Girl Anachronism
by pinkeop
Summary: AU - Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism.
1. Chapter 1

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the Girl Anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** Welcome one and all to my first multi-chapter Sweeney Todd. I figure if I put up those four one-shots and get people used to my writing style I might get at least one or two reviews. I know I'm not fond of reading AU fan fictions, but I'm such a hypocrite because I LOVE writing them.

So, guys, bear with me on this one... I came up with it during school and perfected it during play rehearsal and well... If I don't like it, I'll certainly take it down and continue with my random one-shots. But, just give it a chance? Ever seen the Never Ending Story? Keep it in mind during the beginning, it'll explain shit. More. 8D

Rated T because I always rate multi-chapter stories T!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter one** the ballad of sweeney todd

_you can tell_

_from the scars on my arms_

_and cracks in my hips_

_and the dents in my car_

_and the blisters on my lips_

_that i'm not the carefullest of girls_

London rolled by the windows of the sleek black car where young Analise Landon sat beside her mother in the passenger side. The young woman's brow was furrowed, beaded with sweat even as the rolled down window let in the summer breeze. The good weather didn't exactly mirror Ana's mood, quite the contrary infact. The tension in the car was so thick that not even a meat cleaver could dent it. Two hours in a car with her mother wasn't what Ana would ever call fun. She just wanted to get out and leave her behind, because that's what was going to happen anyway. In the center of London on Fleet Street awaited young Ana's fate, in the form of an old widowed biddy by the name of Aunt Helen. And her humble abode that smelt of a stale, metallic stench all the time.

Analise gave a loud, obnoxious sigh of discontent. Her mother's annoyed look was beyond worth it, and a satisfied smile flit over her lips. "You brought this on yourself, Analise," her mother scolded. "You just had to keep fighting with that girl... beastly thing..." her mother shuttered. "It's just for the summer, Ana. It's for your own good. Then you'll be off to that nice school your father and I are sending you to, and you'll be in London _anyway_..." Her smile was proud as she looked over at her daughter. "Best get aquainted, don't you think, Analise?"

"Come on, mum!" Ana snapped in an annoyed fashion, shaking her head, her firey mess of hair whipping around her face and sticking to her pale skin. "I'm almost eighteen! You can't do this to me!"

"Not until _after_ the summer, Analise," Mrs. Landon said sternly, turning the car down a street that the girl didn't bother to take the name of. "Your father and I only want what's best for you, you know that! This school will teach you to be a _proper_ lady! Of which you can't seem to master," she gave her daughter a look with a wrinkled nose, eyeing the black wife beater that didn't bother to flatter her small-breasted no-curve figure and her ripped-at-the-knees jeans, the raggedy hems covering her bright pink converse that had taken a beating over the last four years. Her hair was red, like her mothers, but was never pulled back into the tight pony tails and buns, but instead always down and messy in layers of tangles. Bruises covered ever inch of exposed, pale skin on her arms and coller bone and legs- from fights. Just a few small bruises, cuts, and scars... but she was fine.

"Mum," Ana said sulkily.

"And _don't_ give your Aunt Helen a hard time, Ana," Mrs. Landon talked over her daughter boistriously. "She agreed to let you stay with her for the summer- it's only three months. You can survive three months, can't you? Then you'll be at that nice school..." Mrs. Landon's smile was so self-satisfied that the woman missed her daughter sticking her tongue out in distaste. "A nice, proper lady, Analise. An all girl's school is exactly what you need."

"I don't want to go to an all girl's school!" Ana cried out, stomping her untied converse onto the floor of the car. She would admit, she had a bit of a temper and a slight anger problem... and plenty of boys and girls alike had met a bloody, bruised, black-eyed fate at the hands of her fists, but did that merit prison?! "I've heard horrible things about those places!"

"Analise," her mother said snappishly. "You're getting excited. This is no time for your stories. Fix your hair. Sit straight. We're almost there..."

Ana wrinkled her nose at her mother and pulled her wild tangles up into a lop-sided horse tail, roughly ripping out a few broken tresses. Her anger boiled inside of her, teeth clenched as the car rolled along Fleet st. Aunt Helen lived in a two-story home that was more of an old renovated shop rather than a house. Ana's temper steamed at the sight of it. It looked over the side walk, it's once new white paint beginning to fade to an ugly color of gray. Rows of windows on the lower floor peered into the kitchen that must've once been a bakery of some sort. Above was a single room that served as a guest bedroom, and for the next three months would be Ana's room. The girl groaned as the car rolled to a stop at the curb.

"Get out," Mrs. Landon said snappishly. "Say hello to your Aunt Helen, then take your things upstairs." Ana got out of the car sluggishly, pulling her duffle bag- that held her few worldly possesions inside -over her shoulder. "And for goodness sakes!" Her mother steamed. "Try to look greatful!"

Ana mumured something that sounded suspiciously like "bite me!" under her breath bfore she stalked to the door. The only way inside was through the kitchen, an odd place for a door for a building designed to be a home. She pressed one pink painted nail into the doorbell. She was almost sure it no longer worked. The only thing that stopped her from slamming her fist into the door was her mother's hard grip on her shoulder. Ana clenched her teeth and waited quietly, but no where near patiently.

Aunt Helen looked a world apart from her mother. The sisters were ten years apart. While her mother had firey red hair, Helen had straight black locks that were always tugged back into a tight bun with whisps of gray peeking out. So when the door finally swung open, Ana wasn't surprised to find the human personification of a bitter old crow standing before her. But a pleasently face smile coated the woman's too-red lips, and Ana felt her mother's hand tighten on her shoulder.

"Ah! My darling sister and her daughter! Daisy, Analise! Such a delight! Come in, come in!" Helen crowed. Mrs. Landon pressed her daughter harshly in the back and Ana stmpled clumsily through the thresh hold, followed closely by her mother, the death grip on her shoulder still in tact.

"Hello, hello!" Daisy gushed to her sister- it was almost visible how deeply the two loathed each other. "Analise, say hello to your Aunt Helen!"

Ana wrinkled her nose and glanced up from where she stared moodily at her shoes. "Hello, Aunt Helen," she obliged.

"Hello, darling!" Helen said, a condescending smile on her lips. The three of them all stood in the awkwardly coordinated kitchen, the sound of the television pouring in from the parlor. Ana glanced nervously before clearing her throat.

"Ahm... I'll just..." she tried to escape the death grip her mother had on her.

"Yes!" Helen enthused, clapping a hand on the other shoulder, man-handling her towards a door that lead into a court beside the house. "You can just take these stairs right up to your room, darling. Queer little house, isn't it?"

Ana wrinkled her brow. "Oh, the queeriest..." She murmured.

"I'm afraid it's a bit dusty up there, love," Helen said lightly as she pushed her out the door. "Haven't been up there in ages. Since the last time your mother decided to bring you out for a visit. When you were ten." The accusation almost made Ana laugh, but instead the girl grimanced out a smile and shrugged her shoulders awkwardly.

"Thank your Aunt Helen, Analise." Diasy said sharply from where she stood, begging to escape. "Then take your things up stairs."

_Stop calling me that!_ she screamed in her mind. _I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!_

"Yes, Mum," Ana said calmly, turning and stomping up the wooden stairs around the side of the house. She paused at the landing, letting her anger simmer before she went in. The porch was a nice little bonus, she thought. Maybe put out some flowers. Or a fort. Her fingers shook lightly still as she reached for the door knob and twisted it harshly, swinging the door open. It swung back smoothly to allow her access, banging against the wall behind it. Wincing at the sound, Ana threw her duffle bag and watched it slid across the floor with a satisfying thump, slumping against the opposite wall. She mentally gave herself ten points.

The door slammed shut behind her as she glared around the room. Her room. What was now her room. A horrid metallic stench burned her nostrils and she clapped one hand over her nose. The large bay window on the slanted ceiling let in the pale light of the summer sun. Another window, smaller, sat by an dreadfully old looking vanity. A four poster bed was pushed against one wall, and a dresser beside it. There was a bookshelf covered with books only Aunt Helen might read. A desk sat beside the vanity, and an old rocking chair was tucked under the slant of the ceiling beside the window. The floors were boarded and covered with a thin layer of dust, the wall paper a dingy gold. Ana wrinkled her nose and turned back towards the door, pulling it open with a little less vigor.

Below, Helen and Diasy spoke loudly, boistriously, their voices carrying from the open door that lead to the court. Ana waited on the landing for a half a second before bouncing down the stairs, throwing herself into a full tilt skip off the second to last stair. Her ankle stung on contact with the hard ground.

"Oh, yes!" Aunt Helen was saying as Ana walked by. "By this time next year, your young Analise will be a perfect young woman. Refined in the ways of the world. Why, she might even be able to keep a boy!"

Laughter. Ana seethed as she walked around the house towards the car, yanking out her two suitcases full of cloths out of the back seat, kicking the door closed harshly. More laughter. She stalked up the stairs, blocking out her mother's voice. This was going to be hell. Hell on earth.

"Fucking school," Ana hissed as she shoved open the door with her hip, tossing one suitcase across room, watching it slid as well and join her duffle bag below the bay window. "Fucking aunt. Fucking mum." She was seeing red already. Ana tossed her second suit case, watching it hit the floor wrong, and snap open. Her clothes and few books she kept in there spilling onto the floor. A little yell escaped her throat as she stomped across the room to pick up her things. "I hate this place!" She ground out under her breath as she threw the clothes in the general direction of the bed and stacked her books carefully ontop of one another. Her few friends.

"I hate this place!" She said a bit louder as she grabbed her books in her arms and stood, moving towards the window. But there was the sound of a sickening snap, and her foot sunk below the floor, and down she went with a wild thud, her ankle hissing in pain.

"Fuck!" She snapped, twisting around to see what had caused her fall. The floorboard had broken and Ana's foot had caught in the hole she had created stomping over it in such a tizzy. It was easy to wriggle her ankle free, but it stung and throbbed in pain. Ana pulled herself over to the hole she had created in the floor board, and pulled the broken peices aside. The sun moved out from behind the very thin layer of clouds and the warm square of light heated her back, and illuminated the pit of darkness that lay beneath the floorboards.

Under a thick layer of dust, years and years of it, perhaps, lay a small, leather bound book. Curiosity over took her, and the young woman reached into the floor boards to retrieve it. Her fingers were coated with dust when she recoiled. Under it, was a small bundle covered with a silky velvet cover. That too was pulled out and laid lightly in her lap.

She brushed the dust off the little book, peering at the engraved words on the front. _Do Not Read_.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Ana snorted, rolling her eyes as she peeled back the cover. The pages were yellowed and old, crinkling and breaking with age. The ink was obviously had written, like a journal. Her eyes snapped down to the small box and she set the journal down to inspect it, first. It took was covered with years of dust, and Ana blew it off before prying open the cover, rusted and broken with age. There were eight slots, but only six were filled with glistening silver handles. She ran her fingers over them, pulling one out of it's place, flipping it open- a razor glistened in the sun light.

"Well would you look at tha'..." Ana said curiously. "Straight edge razors! Would you look... at... tha'..." She folded it up again, and set it back in it's slot, moving the box aside. "What else do we 'ave 'ere?" She murmured, reaching down into the floor boards, groping, but finding nothing. Her attention was drawn back to the old, brittle book. Glancing at the door, even if she would hear if anyone were to come up and disturb her, Ana picked the leather book back in her hands and opened it in her lap. She had to hold it close to her face to read the whispy, faded hand writing, and even then, everything got lost in translation.

_Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd,_ the line read.

_His skin was pale and his eye was odd.  
He shaved the faces of gentleman_

_who never thereafter were heard of again._

Ana snorted and scooched back, leaning her shoulders against the wall under the window. "Poet must'a lived 'ere how many years ago," she said brightly. "_He trod that path that few had trod, did Sweeney Todd._" She read aloud. "_The demon barber of Fleet Street_." Laughter shook her small frame. "Well that sounds comforting." She looked around her, feeling an eerie vibe in the air, but forced herself to ignore the hair on the back of her neck stand straight up. Her bright green eyes snapped back to the book.

"_He kept a shop in London town, of fancy clients and good renown, and what if none of their souls were saved, they went to their maker impecably shaved._" Ana's lips twisted upward, feeling the affects of the sick humor. "_By Sweeney Todd, by Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street._"

She skimmed over the next few lines, peeling the page back and finding the next one blank, but flipping through she found more elegant script. Returning to the first page, she began again, the eerie vibe seeming the clutch her throat and make it harder to breath.

"_Swing your razor wide, Sweeney hold it to the skies. Freely flows the blood of those who moralize. He needs were few, his room was bare. A lavabo and a fancy chair. A mug of suds and a leather strop, an apron towel, a pail and a mop. For neatness he deserves a nod, does Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street." _ It was becomming impeccibly harder to breath now, and Ana had to wonder if the dust was finally getting to her. Eyes heavy, she wrinkled her brow and forced her nose closer to the page.

"_Inconspicious Sweeney was, quick and quiet and clean he was. Back of his smile, under his word, Sweeney heard music that nobody heard. Sweeney pondered and Sweeney planned, like a perfect machine he planned, Sweeney was smooth, Sweeney was subtle, Sweeney would blink, and rats would scuttle..."_

Ana blinked rapidly. "Sounds like a right nice man," she murmured to herself, wrinkling her brows and pulling the book away. Her body swayed and she felt a sudden lack of control. What she did feel was her eyes growing heavy, the lids suddenly slamming down on the green irises, her body falling limp to the side, the dull thud of her body resounding as an echo in her ears. The dark engulfed her, swallowed her, caressed her.

_Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd... He served a dark and vengeful god..._

Ana felt her skin prickling. Cold, harsh needles striking her skins over and over. She moaned miserably, her head pounding, as her body twisted and shifted back and forth, but the sharp needles continued. Stabbing, and pulling back, quickly, over and over and over. The sun must've gone away, because all she felt was cold. Why was everything so cold?

Ana rocked her body until her eyes finally fluttered open. She was met with darkness, with a pale light coming from somewhere above her. With the light, she could see she lay between two buildings. Old buildings. She rolled over onto her back, and the needles stung her face. It was water. Rain. It was raining.

"Ahhrg.." She moaned, rolling again, her body soaked. She realized then she was shivering, her wife beater soaked through and her jeans stiff and wet. "Mum..." she moaned. She wasn't sure where she was, what happened, but she just wanted to feel the harsh hold of her mother. The harsh nails digging into her arm when she did something wrong, the brusing grip on her shoulder when she said something disrespectful, the harsh heel of her palm across her cheek when she fought back. At least, then, she would know she was in a situation she could control.

"Mum!" she croaked. Ana found she desperately wanted to hear her mothers harsh tones. "Somebody... please..." Her entire body ached like she'd fallen from a great height.

A pitful sound escaped her as she rolled onto her side, her weak arms pushing herself onto her knees- but they felt like jelly, and she only ended up face in a puddle that formed beneath her. "Somebody, _please!_" She moaned.

"You 'ear tha' Mr. T?" A grating nails-on-a-chalk-board voice came from the mouth of the space between the two buildings.

Ana moaned again, her body tossing onto it's side. Shivers wracked her body, her teeth chattering together.

"Leave it," harsh tones repsonded. Ana gave another pitiful sound, begging without words. _Help me_, she thought. _Everything hurts. It's so cold. I'm so lost. Please, help me..._

"Mr. T! It's a simple thing!" The sound of foot steps clacking on the stones was instantly comforting. "Oh! Mr. T, It's just a child! Come 'ere, lift 'er into the house for me!" Silence. "Mr. Todd! She'll die out 'ere, it's pourin' rain! Just come 'ere! That's my love."

Ana groaned at the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards her. She was lifted- her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat -harshly and with no compassion, her head rolling back over someone's arm, a man she pressumed. The bruises she sported over her arms and legs seemed to hurt ten times more. The peircing needles stopped and she could smell shaving cream and vanilla, but her body still quaked with shivers.

Her body was tossed umercifully onto a soft matress. "Thank yeh, Mr. T," the woman's voice cooed, but she recieved no response and a door banged. Ana groaned, and she heard the woman flit closer, cooing her quiet. "_Poor thing..._" she sang quietly. "_Poor thing..._" She felt her wet clothes beginning to be tugged off her, and sounds of curiosity followed as each item of clothing was pulled free. Ana should have felt embaressed, and she should have protested, but she felt suddenly tired, and sick, and her throat was closing up again.

"Poor thing," the woman repeated. "Must'a caught a fever, layin' out there all night! Simple thing, just a simple thing." A warm blanket was tucked around her. "A good sleep ought'a break the fever," the woman mused. "Poor, odd thing."

Ana's eyes fluttered open momentarily, but all she caught was a whisp of auburn hair as the woman turned away from her with her wet clothes bundled up in her arms.

Her eyes snapped shut and she fell into a fitful sleep, listening to the sounds of the woman who had found her, saved her, bustle in and out of the room, singing softly, quietly, in and out, to and fro, until all conciousness was lost and Ana fell into a greatful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the Girl Anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** Thank you guys for the positive feedback on the first chapter! starry eyed It gave me the want to go on with the story, and I am starting to like it so far.

So, without further ado, here is chapter two. I'm leaning on naming each chapter after a song of the soundtrack, but if that's not going too good for me the names will begin to vary to whatever song I'm listening to at that time. Yeah.

Oh, and I've had a few questions asked- no, the lyrics at the beginning of chapter one weren't written by me. All the lyrics at the beginning of each chapter will belong to the Dresden Dolls ( or maybe Belle & Sebastian if I'm in the mood for it ).

NOW without ANY further ado, enter chapter two!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter two** No Place Like London

When Ana's eyes fluttered open she was met with a bright light. She groaned, raising her hand to her head, running her fingers through her hair, discovering the tangles were matted and fanned out around her head like a firey halo. Her eyes fluttered open again, running the heel of her palm against her eyes. Her head no longer pounded, but her body still ached slightly. Pulling her hands away from her face, she allowed her eyes to adjust to the light. She made to sit up, but her body became disoriented. Ana settled for gazing around the room. She lay on a bed low to the ground, against a wall left of the door that granted entrance to the square room. A long, thin window was opposite the door, opened a bit to allow a cool morning breeze into the room. Every inch of spare space was grammed with bookshelves, mantles and desks, decorated with picture frames and knicknacks. Everything looked so oddly out of place to her, or maybe she felt out of place. Ana finally managed to sit up- a loud yelp escaping her when she discovered that under the blankets she was bare as the day she was born.

When the door creaked open, Ana pulled the blankets up around her collerbone. A woman stepped into the room, carrying a tray against one hip. The smell of gravy hit her nostrils, and her dry mouth began to water. The woman was very pale, her eyes sunken with hollow bruises around both eyes, deep and purple. A pile of broken, auburn curls were twisted and pinned into place ontop o fher head, a few falling and brushing the exposed skin of her throat, the pale flesh bare all the way to the swell of her breasts, where the coller of her dress began. It was a very old-looking attire, lace and heavy material layered ontop of each other. But the woman, upon sseeing her awake, gave the warmest, most gentle look she'd ever seen on a face.

"Good! Yeh up! Gave me a fright there, love. Thought the was never gonna open yeh eyes." The woman grooned, setting the tray of food down on a desk. "Lemme see 'ere, did yeh fever break?" A hand was pressed lightly to Ana's forehead and the girl opened and closed her dry mouth uselessly. "It's down all right! That's a girl. Would yeh like a spot of breakfest, love?"

Ana swallowed and pulled her brows together in confusion. "Where am I? Who are you?"

The woman's look was warmly sympathetic. "The can call me Nellie, dear. I run the shop out front. An' me tenant, well... 'e has his own little business upstairs..." A soft sigh, almst longing was directed towards the ceiling.

"What... why..." Ana ground her palms into her eyes. "I don't understand what happened."

"Well, love... Mr. T an' I was coming up from the bake house an' I heard yeh moanin' like a dyin' animal. Lain out in me alleyway, yeh was, had to have been there for a few hours, yeh was soaked to the bone. Almost caught yeh death out there." Nellie brought the tray over and placed it warmly on the covers. "Yeh clothes is dry, love, but... curious attire you 'as there. What yeh doing wearin' trousers like that, love?"

Ana used one hand to dig into the plate of steaming food, the other holding her blanket up over her breasts. "Everybody wears them, lady," Ana answered simply. Nellie gave a curious look.

"Ah... well... no matter. With enough laces, I think you might fit into one of me dresses," the kind woman said thoughtfully.

Ana watched quietly as she went to an open closet door. "Where yeh live, love? What were you doing here all by yehself? There are demons prowling everywhere. Pretty girl like you might want an escort from now on..."

"I live with my mu--- ... my aunt." Ana frowned, pushing the tray away. "On Fleet Street."

Nellie chuckled and Ana felt slight relief wash over her. "Goodness, deary. An' 'ear I was thinkin' you far from home. When you're better, I'll 'ave Mr. Todd escort you home. This little shop 'ere is on Fleet street."

Ana glanced upwards. "Mr. Todd?"

Nellie was also looking upwards, a fond and soft smile on her lips. "Aye, love. 'E's a cold one, my Mr. Todd. But 'e's good to me."

"Is he your husband?" Ana asked as Nellie lay a dress out on the bed. Her skin prickled. Something was off. Something was very off.

"Oh, goodness, no," Nellie crooned, dropping a corset on the bed. "He's... he's just my tenant... Ol' friend. Good friend."

Ana sat straighter, her heart pounding.

"What're you pullin' them out for?" Ana asked frantically. "I'll just put my jeans on, really..." Her brows furrowed as she fingered the thick material of the dress and the hard shell of the corset. "Why would you wear this?"

Nellie looked at her with wide, curious eyes. "I may be nothing but a windowed baker but even I'm above wearing a begger's dress! Would you like me to help you up with it, love?"

"What're you harping about?" Ana demanded, throwing back the covers. She ignored the burning blus in her own cheeks at the concious awareness of her nakedness. "Where _am_ I?!"

"Calm yehself, child," Nellie soothed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, fititng into the bruises that her mother's hard fingers had left. She eased her to sit back on the bed. "Let's start from the beginning, love. What's yeh name, now?"

Ana swallowed thickly, staring at her bare knees as she let Nellie wrap her in a quilt. "Ana... Landon. Analise Landon."

"Alright, Miss Landon," Nellied soothed. "How'd yeh get in me alley? I see yeh bruises... did yeh get attacked, love?"

Ana thought hard. No, she hadn't. Had she? No. She had been upstairs. The book. The razors chased in silver. Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd... Aunt Helen's fake laughter.

"No... I was in my room... I found this book under a floor board... because I broke it... I'd just got there... I was so tried, and my throat was so tight..."

Nellie looked upon her with sympathy.

"I just closed my eyes a moment. And then everything was dark." Ana pulled the quilt closer.

"why don't you let me help you on with yeh dress, love. I'll make you a pie and I'll 'ave Mr. Todd escort you home." Nellie said. Ana shook her head vigirously, but soon found herself allowing the kind woman to help her on with the corset bodice. When she began clipping the pins in place, Ana sucked in her breath.

"I can scaresly breath!" She complained gaspingly.

Nellie laughed in quiet shakes. "You act like you've never worn one of these before!" When Ana said nothing, Nellie looked around her with a curious expression. "Goodness, child. Where are you from?"

Ana said nothing. Her brows furrowed into the middle of her forehead. Nellie patted her sides when the corset was snapped and laced and quietly helped Ana on with the dress. It was slightly too long for her legs and brushed against the ground, the sleeves cut off before the shoulders, dipping low on the cleavage she was suddenly sporting. It was made of heavy material, blacks and dark burgundies, and some lace along the sleeves.

"You look beautiful, love," Nellie said with a soft smile, her eyes warm as she looked over Ana. The younger felt her cheeks warm as she smoothed her hands along the mid section of the dress. She couldn't breath!

"M'am... Nellie..." Ana said softly. "Please, you have to listen to me... This is wrong, all wrong. I... this is..." She pulled at her hair, the tresses tangled and messy. "I was just upstairs...And..."

"I know, love," Nellie said soothingly, wrapping one arm around Ana's shoulders, pulling open the door. "Come on, I'll give yeh a fruit pie and then we'll see what Mr. Todd is up to."

Outside the bedroom was a parlor. A couch was infront of a dying fireplace, and a piano pressed against one wall. It was a small little room, with just enought space to fit a work desk and a chaise lounge opposite the couch. Just like the bedroom, knicknacks and picture frames crowded every bit of spare space. Ana even thought she saw a bottle labeled _gin_ but paid it no mind.

When Ana rounded the corner of the parlor, her heart stopped in her throat. Older, perhaps, dirtier, darker, more dusty... but it was, without a doubt, the same kitchen- or now was it a shop? Ana's hand reached out to grab the door frame and her breath came in short gasps. She felt light headed all of a sudden.

"No!" she gasped. "No, no way! This can't be happening!"

"Whatsamatt'a, love?" Nellie gasped, reaching out one hand. Ana stormed through the kitchen- or was it still a shop? -and moved in awkward, jerking circles. Her hands clawed at her face and hair, dragging down her throat, discontented noises escaping her vocals.

"Miss Landon!" Nellie gasped as the girl threw open the shop door and stumbled out into the morning foot traffic. A few passersby glanced her way, but other than that she was ignored. The sky was shadowed with clouds, the streets dirty. It all looked so different, so dark. Instead of the smooth pavement, cobble stones paved the road and coaches drawn by horses pulled through the street. Everyone was dressed in about the same fashion. Women in dresses and corsets, men in vests and slacks and jackets. Ana paced into the street, forcing a couple to move around her, and spun in a full circle.

Her breaths came in quick gasps as hyperventalation set in.

"Come inside, deary!" Nellie crooned. Ana looked up at the building as the lady wrapped an arm around her shoulder and man handled her back into the shop. _Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shoppe_.

"Now what's gotten into you, love?" She asked as she forced Ana down onto one of the booths. Ana placed her hands on her face. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. It was all impossible.

"This is my aunts home!" She said weakly. "I came here... with my mother. She was leaving me here." At least she _thought_ so.. No! She had been! She had the sharp bruises on her shoulders to prove it. "This is _all_ wrong..." Ana looked up at Nellie with a desperate glance. "The date. Today, what is today?"

Nellie looked almost frightened of her, moved back to place the counter between her and Ana. Finally, after counting on her fingers, she said, "May 16th, love."

"The year!" Ana shouted in desperation.

"Eigthteen-fourty-six!" Nellie squeaked.

Ana felt a crushing weight on her shoulders and her hands dropped between her knees, cradled in the skirt of the dress. Her head felt light and she looked upon Nellie with wide, blank eyes. The world spun and nothing made any sense. Up was down, left was right, and boy bands actually sang. Or, weren't in existance. She tried to find her footing, but her mind was entirely disoriented and she pressed her hand against the side of her head, shaking it vigirously.

"That can't be right!" Ana moaned. "No, no, that's not right. It's wrong, all wrong!"

The woman moved around the counter, towards Ana, and placed a warm hand on the back of her head, pulling it against her stomach, stroking the girls hair. "Now, now," Nellie said softly. "You 'ad a harsh fever, love. Tossed and turned in fits for two whole days before yeh came out of it. Silly stories is all you be thinkin' of."

Ana closed her eyes, the woman's mid section warm and her mesh-gloved hands soothing as they stroked through her messy hair. "What say you," Nellie said softly, with slight enthusiasm. "That you stay 'ere, with me? Where I can watch over yeh until yeh mum or aunt comes lookin for yeh?"

Ana's brows slammed together. They wouldn't be coming. Impossibly, they wouldn't be coming. She felt a silent sob shake her body. She looked up at her.

"I want to go home," she whimpered softly. "I want my mum. I don't know where she is. I don't know where I am. Nothing makes sense. I just want to go home..."

"Shh," Nellie murmured, stroking the girl's hair. "_Easy now, hush love hush, don't distress yourself too much..._"

Ana found herself clutching onto the older woman's dress. She never wore dresses in her life! Always ripped jeans, but now here it wasn't like lady to wear such things. "_Easy now..._" Nellie sang quietly. "Now.. 'ow about that fruit pie?"

Ana's smile was weak and watery, but she nodded and released the woman, letting her move about the shop, around the counter, moving things as she went. Her head snapped upwards at the sound of loud foot steps, then the slamming of a door. Her heart thundered in time with the sound of heavy foot steps on the stairs outside the shop- still there? -and around the corner of the shop entered a man she could only assume was Mr. Todd.

The man towered over her, his cool gaze instantly zeroing in on her still shaking frame. His eyes were like black coals with deep, sleepless bruises creating hollow shadows around them. His brows were thick and slumped in an unpleasent expression covering his sickly-pale face. His hair was wild and raven black, pushed back out of his face in wirey clumps, a curious streak of white sweeping back, reminding her faintly of Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick. Or Aunt Helen and her poorly hidden grey hairs. He wore a brown vest over a white shirt, the sleeves puffy, the way she always saw portrayed in the movies at the theatre, and black pinstrip trousers over thick black boots. A holister was clipped to his belt, holding what she wouldn't know, for the man turned away from her too quickly and Ana ducked her head down to look at her feet, bare toes wriggling against the cold floor of the store.

"Mr. T!" Nellie crooned delightedly at him, sweeping around the counter to wrap one arm awkwardly around his broad arms. "Say 'ello to my new assitant. Hired 'er to 'elp around the shop! Miss Landon, this is my darling barber. Say 'ello, Mr. T."

The man said nothing. Ana looked up at him- he was looking at Nellie with such a tolerant expression, it was almost comical. When she stood, his eyes flickered to her and his cleared his throat, his brows slamming together in the middle of his forehead in an uncertain, doubtful expression.

"Ana," she said. "You can call me Ana."

The man pulled back his lip slightly. "Sweeney. Sweeney Todd. But you _will_ call me Mr. Todd." He shot a discontented look at the baker.

_Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd..._

Ana frowned. "Sweeney Todd." She repeated softly, curiously. The name rang so familiar.

_His skin was pale nad his eye was odd..._

What was so peculiar about that name?

_He shaved the faces of gentleman..._

Ana wheeled back and nodded softly. "Mr. Todd," she repeated.

_Who never thereafter were heard of again._

"What did ya need from me, love?" Nellie questioned, patting one hand lovingly on Mr. Todd's chest before turning away quickly and busing herself with flour and dough and a big, thick, dangerous looking rolling pin.

Mr. Todd looked between Ana and Nellie, before turning away. "Bring me up some gin," he said quietly. "And then see to it I am to remained undisturbed."

With that he was gone, the door above slamming with a renewed vigor.

Nellie smiled sweetly at Ana. "He's got 'is moods, but 'e's the only company some days." The woman laughed softly and then her smile brightened ten watt. "Well, not anymore. I got you 'ere, Ana. I'll 'ave someone to talk to at nights. Won't get so lonely."

Ana tried to smile back, but she could only manage a small grimmace. She felt the need to cry, but the look on Nellie's face was so warm and happy that she couldn't bear to ruin it with her pitiful tears. Quietly, she weighed the pros against the cons. The biggest con was that she was in some different time period, some different world than she was entirely used to, and mere thought of hand-washing things she hadn't had washed since she was two and her parents couldn't afford all the luxuries made her skin crawl. She was alone, with her mother, her aunt, her father. In this strange time, this strange place. She knew no one but the dangerous looking barber upstairs and the kind faced baker. Her family was gone. Her belongings were gone. All she had were her beater and jeans. She felt completely alone and it was crushing, like a weight on her chest. The pro, was that this woman, so warm, so loving, was like her own little ray of sunshine. Her personal sunshine. She almost even cancled out the eerie feeling that Ana got at the thought of the barber up stairs.

_Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd... He served a dark and vengeful god..._


	3. Chapter 3

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the Girl Anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** Thank you for your kind reviews! You all really are too kind! I'd especially like to thank _andaere _ because she's a constant reviewer of my stories. And yah know, she's just a sweetie about it. 8D

The story line should be moving along more often now. I'd just like you all to know right now that the events of the solid concrete events of the story aren't going to be altered too much, like how they get Toby, or Johanna or Antony. Ana is going to be one the wiser about the pies and what goes into them, however. She's gonna know all the dirty little secrets. Just because it's no fun writing about a character who's clueless.

I wanna apologise for the lenght of this chapter. It just seems to run on forever, but I should couldn't find an appropriate place to stop it. xx

Next chapter, Ana meets Antony and Mr. Todd learns of Johanna.

Without further ado, entre le chapter de three!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade.

--

**chapter three** Worst Pies in London

_Missed me missed me now you've got to kiss me_

_If you kiss me mister take responsibility_

_I'm fragile mister just like any girl would be_

_And so misunderstood (so treat me delicately!)_

Nellie and Mr. Todd, Ana would soon come to discover, were completely mental.

A week had passed slowly as Ana helped the kind baker around the shop, though of course few people came in. Sometimes Nellie would sing- okay, Nellie would ALWAYS sing -about how she served the worst meat pies in all of London. During these times, Ana found it hard not to smile as she washed the floor for Nellie, or the counter, or the tables. The woman was so motherly that Ana found it hard not to feel comfortable, though of course she constantly had the weight of the world pressing on her chest every time she would look out into the street and see the unfamiliar settings. Her mother was _gone_. Forever. Or until she figured out a way back, which seemed almost impossible now.

Ana slept in the bed with Nellie, curled up to her side, like a mother and child, and she could tell the baker appreciated her gestures. Nights were the hardest for Ana. The old house creaked and Mr. Todd paced upstairs. Back and forth. Thump. Thump. It seemed to lull poor Nellie to sleep, but it kept Ana awake until her eyes snapped shut out of exhaustion. During the night, she would dream of her mother's harsh, cold stare and Nellie's warm, soft smiles. She would dream of her father, stern but always kinder to her than her mother. And she would dream of running. Running as fast as her legs could carry her, but she wore a corset too tight and she couldn't gather enough breath to make it to whatever she was looking for at the end of her vision. Her dreams would cause her to jerk and twist during the night, and sometimes she would wake to Nellie soothing her sleepily back into calmness. She would awake on her own to a usually empty bed, then come out and help Nellie with the shop. Not that any customers ever came. Why would they? After all, her Nellie made the worst pies in all of London, after all.

Nellie loved to listen to Ana tell stories about where she came from, though of course she thought she was making them all up, Ana could tell from the mischevious look in the woman's hazel eyes. But, it gave Ana things to do, and Nellie seemed to enjoy it. Ana would tell her about washing machienes when they did laundry, about dish washers when they cleaned plates, of televisions and movie theatres and automatic cameras and computers. Then Nellie would laugh and pat the young girl on the head in a loving way. "I love your stories, Ana," she would say. "Such an imagination you have!"

Mr. Todd rarely came downstairs. Sometimes, in the mornings, he would bring down a tray of half-picked at dinner from the night before, and then retreat to his room above the shop. Nellie would retreat upstairs at random times with a tray of food, and return down looking much unhappier than she did when she went up. Usually he paced, back and forth, around and around, to and fro. He paced. Once, during the week that Ana had been there, helping Nellie, cleaning and playing with the flour-y dough, Mr. Todd had come down after nightfall. Nellie was cleaning the counter and chattering away as Ana sat on the stool by the sink and watched. He came down, and sat right at the booth without saying a word. Ana figured he just missed the thought of company, being up there in his shop all day long with no customers.

That night, Nellie didn't come to bed until Ana heard the pacing of Mr. Todd above.

It was a bright, warm Sunday morning when Ana finally mustered up the courage to question about the man that lived upstairs.

"Nellie," she said softly as the two women sat at the counter, idly rolling some dough in the flour, the two of them intent on making some jelly-filled pies to induldge on later in the evening. "What happened to Mr. Todd? I mean... why is he... so...?"

"Cold?" Nellie finished, smiling weakly. "Quiet? Brooding? Mean? Take your pick, love."

"All of the above," Ana said sheepishly.

Nellie paused her work and looked at Ana with a smile, soft and weak. "Well... 'e 'ad this wife, yeh see... beautiful little thing. 'Er name was Lucy. Pretty, lovely Lucy. 'E 'ad this daughter. Johanna." Nellie sighed softly, looking upwards. "Fifteen years ago the lot of them lived above me- before me poor Albert died. 'E went by the name Benjamin Barker then... A proper artist with a knife, 'e was. Best barber this side of London."

"What happened?" Ana asked softly, staring at the counter top.

"Mr. Barker made this shop bright, 'e did," Nellie said. "Always smelt like shaving cream and vanilla. Lucy was a joy. So was little Johanna. One day, though... It all went away. The light. The life. The joy. Mr. Barker was transported, on false charges, to Australia." She sighed, looking up at the ceiling again. "Lucy... she... she died. The judge that sent her Benjamin away took Johanna as his ward. Judge Turpin. Evil man Not long after, me Albert died, and I was alone for a good fifteen years.

"Then Mr. Todd came..." She looked down again. Ana glanced at her with curious eyes. "Got 'ere not long before you showed up, love. Maybe 'alf a fortnight. 'E's changed, Mr. Todd 'as. Vows his revenge against the man that sent him away. Wants 'im dead, 'e does."

"Dead?" Ana repeated.

Nellie looked nervously from Ana to to the ceiling. "Achin' to slit a throat, 'e is..." she said quietly. "But.. 'e's good, 'e is." Her voice grew almost frantic as she tried to back track. Ana's heart thundered in her chest as she looked upwards. An unstable man with a razor. Very good, yes, that was just wonderful.

"But 'e's good. Takin' justice into 'is own hands, is all... 'E's good," Nellie was saying.

"I won't tell," Ana said softly, looking down at her flour covered hands. "If... anything were to... just... I wont tell. I promise."

Nellie's relief flooded over her. Ana sighed, pulling her brows together in the middle of her forehead. "I see it in 'is eyes some days," Nellie said quietly, rolling the dough. "The man 'e used to be."

Ana leaned closer to the kind baker. "Do you love him, then?" she asked softly.

Nellie looked her way, and her brows pulled together. "Aye. I love 'im like I love you, Ana. Yeh both bring some good to me life." The woman wrapped one thin arm around Ana's shoulders and pulled her close. "But don't go gettin' into that too much, love. Yeh young yet. Yeh don't know what such feelin's would do to yeh."

Ana frowned, but Nellie was already chipper again, slapping her flour covered hands against her mid section and hopping off her stool. "Do me a favor, would yeh, deary and go up and see if Mr. Todd would like to come out for a spell? I was thinkin' a trip to the market was in order."

Ana's eyes followed Nellie as she bustled from the shop and around the corner into the parlor. Her heart was in her throat as she glanced towards the ceiling. The pacing hadn't started yet, and she was almost afraid to go up and disturb the silent man. Clenching her teeth and forcing up a great amount of courage- the same amount it took to talk back to her mother -she brushed her hands over the black mid section of her dress, leaving scuffed handprints of flour behind, and strut towards the door of the court, turning and thumping up the stairs. Under the big skirt of the dress, she wore her trainers, able to wreslte the converses back from Nellie after explaining that she would break her neck should she try to walk in the heels the woman had attempted to force upon her.

One up to the landing, she looked over Fleet street with wild curiosity. Everything seemed so dark, and dready, and unhappy. But Ana knew better- below, in the shop, was the happily bustling woman by the name of Nellie Lovett. Fleet streets own little ray of happiness.

Ana turned and gazed upon the door. A small part of her thought of how this door had once, for a few brief minutes, belonged to her. A bigger part forced her hand to raise, curl into a fist, and knock three times rapid fire against the glass of the door.

Silence.

Another three knocks.

Silence.

Ana bit her lip and glanced over the railing of the landing, hoping to catch a glimpse of Nellie, but the woman must've still been inside. With caution, the girl looked upon the door and with much courage, turned the knob, surprised with the way it opened with ease.

It didn't look too different, the room. It was bare, much more bare, with just a cot, an old vanity, a writing desk, and a trunk behind the door. Of course, the one thing that drew Ana's eyes to attention was the silent man standing at the slanted bay window, gazing out over Fleet street. His back was to her, his hair wild and twisted in messy, wirey clumps. For a barber, he looked very ill-groomed. When the bell above the door jingled with her entrance, his body shifted and he looked calmly towards her. His face was pale, much more so than the few times she had seen him before then, and the bruises under his eyes had worsened. All those nights pacing, he must've never had time for sleep. The look in his eyes suggested pure, unadulturated hatred for her, but Ana pushed that thought out of her head and stepped lightly into the room, letting the door swing behind her.

"Mr. Todd," Ana said after clearing her throat. The man gazed at her lackadasically. "Nellie wants you to come down. We're going to the market." She wrung her hands together lightly, nervously, the look in his eyes never once wavering. "Uhm... please?"

The man almost looked tolerantly amused before he waved his hand at her in dismissal and the dark look was back. "Inform Mrs. Lovett that I'll be down momentarily."

With that, Ana assumed she was dismissed from his presence, and caught in the corner of her eye as the man moved towards the vanity and run his fingers over the smooth contours of a velvet-red box. Something tugged at Ana's conciousness and she whirled around in a full circle, eyes snapping toward the man's hand as his fingerless-gloved-fingers stroked a gleaming silver row of silver-chased handles. Her heart was slamming in her throat as she took a curious step forward, forgetting that attached to that hand, was an arm. And attached to that arm, was a now very upset-looking man.

"Yes?" his voice was lazily drawled, but the emotion was there- annoyance.

Ana's eyes snapped upward and his black eyes caught her's like a snake ready to strike. She swallowed thickly and opened her mouth to speak, but was unable to squeak out even a word. Instead she ducked her head, but kept one eye focused on the silver that lay a yard away from her own hand. "Are they yours?" she finally asked, nodding to the silver handles.

Mr. Todd's lip curled back in pure distaste. "Out." He whispered in annoyance.

"I found those in my room," she went on, taking a step towards him and the vanity. "Before I ended up here. They was under a floorboard that I broke when I threw my luggage across the room. Along with a little book. A little journal."

"Out," the man hissed a little louder, his fingers curling around the handle of silver that he held currently in his had, pressing it tightly to his palm to way one does when they don't want to lose grip on something.

"Beauties, they are," Ana continued, stepping one final step close enough. She made the mistake of reaching out one hand and touching the cold silver with the tip of her ring finger.

One large hand snapped around her wrist and forced her back a few stumbly steps, which they were considering her legs wrapped up in the skirt of her dress. Mr. Todd's face was livid. "Out!" He roared, throwing her back with disgust. Her own temper flaired, but the more sensible part of her told her not to mess with this man who held a razor. Ana tripped over herself in haste to get out of the door. "Save your stories for the baker!" the man snarled behind her. It was to her surprise that he was stalking out of the room after her, the razor he had been holding placed safely in a leather holister at his hip. Ana pulled her skirt up to her knees and flew down the stairs with the angry barber stomping after her. Mrs. Lovett chose that moment to step out of her court, made up pretty with a hat pinned into her hair.

Ana found herself putting Nellie inbetween herself and the barber, but it seemed that by the time Mr. Todd had reached the bottom of the stairs, he was calmer, his look of annoyance and anger replaced with the sudden realization that he had been coaxed into going on a shopping excursion. Nellie chuckled and her lips pulled up into a warm smile.

"Come along, Mr. Todd," Nellie crooned, placing one small hand along the small of his back and pushing him forward. Ana trailed quietly behind, the bottoms of her dress dragging along the cobblestones. The day was warm, but not entirely bright, as the sun was stifled behind the ever present layer of thin, gray clouds. The girl looked upwards as she walked, her eyes wincing at the brightness of the sky.

"Aye-talian," Nellie was saying ahead of her to Mr. Todd. "Best barber this side of London. Comes 'ere every week."

Ana sped up and fell into step at Nellie's side, letting the older woman take her hand as they slipped into the throng of people that buzzed about the market. For Ana, it was a new experience, and her eyes were wide to take it all in. The open stalls reminded her of the fairs she and her father went to every year. Only this time these were actual people trying to make a living, and the smell of rotting fruit gagged her every other stall she passed. A small exchange between Nellie and Mr. Todd went almost unseen by Ana, for the man was no on her do-not-look-in-the-eye list. But soon she was being pulled into the centre of a small crowd of people, gathered around a stage.

_Perelli's Miricle Elixer _the sign read. A soft chuckle left Ana's lips.

The curtain was pushed back and out leapt a young boy, surely no older than twelve, carrying a drum and stick, which he beat rapidly to gather the attention of the crowd. Ana stepped closer to Nellie.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The boy said loudly, his blonde hair almost falling out from under his hat. "May I have your attention please!" The drum was cast aside. "Do you wake every morning in shame and dispair to discover your pillow is covered with hair? Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, from now on you can wake in a tease! You may never again have a worry or care, for I will show you a marvelous rare!"

"Farce," Mr. Todd whispered to Nellie, and to her surprise, as well as to Ana, for his eyes looked to both women. Ana smiled shakily at the barber, who turned away from her, obviously still sour over their little exchange in his shop. Ana wrinkled her nose and looked up at the boy on the stage.

"Look at the top of my head!" the boy shouted, flipping off his cap into the crowd. His mess of blond hair fell to his shoulders and Ana chuckled along with a few others. Nellie shook her head with a smile, and Mr. Todd stayed without emotion. "T'was Perelli's Miricle Elixer, that's what did the trick sir, true, sir, true!" the boy went on.

"Was it quick, sir? Did in in a tick, sir! Just like an Elixer ought to do! Would you like a bottle, mister? Just a penny, I give you my word!" The boy grabbed a clear bottle with yellow liquid inside and tossed it to the crowd. A man a few people right of Ana caught it. She peered around the crowed to watch the man unscrew the cap and take a wiff before passing it along.

"T'is unique!" The boy went on. "Soon you'll have to think it once a week!"

The bottle rounded closer and Ana took it as it was handed to her.

"Pardon me, M'am," Mr. Todd said haughtily to Nellie. "What's that awful stench? Are we standing near an open drench?"

Nellie's lips curled up in a tight lipped smile and she leaned down to Ana. "Pardon me, M'am, what's that awful stench?"

Ana couldn't up but chuckle and bit her lip as she handed it over to Nellie, who passed it to Mr. Todd. The man held it to his nose and wrinkled his brow, his lip pulled back in a scowl.

"You can have your pick, sir, of the girls!" The boy shouted over the crowd.

"What is this?" Mr. Todd said loudly, haughtily, with a mischevious smirk on his face. Ana's face contorted in curiosity. A smile seemed to forgien on his face, and even so this wasn't the smile of a man having a fun at a young boy. This was the smile of a man forming a dark plan, even as he peered into a bottle with a foul smelling concocting inside. An odd one, Mr. Todd wasn, Nellie was right about that much of him.

"Smells like piss," Mr. Todd said, handing it around Nellie to Ana.

She sniffed it and gagged. "Smells like- ew!" she agreed, handing it to Nellie.

"Wouldn't touch it if I were, you dear." Nellie soothed as she gave the bottle back to Mr. Todd.

"Looks like piss," he said, holding the bottle to the light.

Ana looked down at the ground, her smile tight on her lips.

"This is piss!" Mr. Todd deducted. "Piss with ink!" He handed it along. "Keep it off your boots, sir, eats right through!"

Suddenly, the curtain was pushed passed again, and the blond boy dove out of the way. The man was tall and lanky and thin, his body clad tightly in a blue suit and Ana had to not mention David Bowie to Nellie under her breath- mostly because the man infamous for the blue jumpsuit didn't exist yet. His voice was loud and booming as he introduced himself- Adolfo Perelli, king of the barbers, the barber of kings! Ana leaned closer to Nellie and the two women exchanged curious looks.

"And who!" Perelli crowed, his accent grinding. "Dares to say my Elixer is piss? Who says this?"

Silence among the crowd. Finally, Mr. Todd looked up and stepped forward through the crowd. "I do." he said, his voice calm. "I am... Mister Sweeney Todd... of Fleet Street... I have opened a bottle of Perelli's Elixer, and I say to you that it is nothing but a fraud, concocted from piss and ink.. Further more, I wager I can shave a cheek with ten times more dexterity." He held up in his hands, Ana could see, two of his gleaming silver razors. "Each of these against five pound," Mr. Todd said cooly.

"Mr. Todd!" Nellie hissed under her breath, her brow furrowed.

"What is he doing?" Ana asked quietly to the baker at her side. Nellie groaned softly.

"Try'na get a business up an' runnin' yeh see," Nellie said hurriedly. "Try'na get people to see 'im as a barber. 'E ain't got no sense of mind, my Mr. Todd."

Ana watched carefully.

"Will Beadle Bamford be the judge?" Mr. Todd called out of the crowd. A man, short and portly which reminded her of a rat, meandered through the crowd, his top hat lopsided on his squished little face, his cane extended infront of him.

"Glad," the beadle crooned. "as _always_ to obliged my friends and neighbors..." He stepped onto the stage and gave the rules. The one with the quickest, smoothest shave, was the winner. Ana grabbed Nellie's hand and pulled her towards the front of the crowd. Mr. Todd looked down at them with a gleam in his eye that made her quiver. The contest began.

Ana's eyes focused on Mr. Todd, and the way his big hands, callused with the years he had been locked away, were nimble and quick as they smoothed one open razor along a strop hooked to his belt, beside the holister for his razor. His face was calm, albeit his brow furrowed just a tad as his black eyes focused on his task. _A proper artist with a knife_, she remembered Nellie telling her as they sat at the counter. Ana leaned her elbows on the stage and looked up at the two barbers. Pirelli snapped the razor against the strop that the little boy held in his hand, scratching it over his knuckles. Ana winced with each snap.

Mr. Todd admired his handy work on his razor as Pirelli began lathering the mans face with a concoction that looked to be shaving cream, yet in a form forgien to her. Mr. Todd mixed the lather liesurely as Pirelli began shaving. Mr. Todd began spreading the cream over the man's face as Pirelli- with only a few strokes left -stopped to address the crowd. Mr. Todd shaved that mans face in seven easy, quick, painless strokes before Pirelli was able to finish his sentance.

"And the winner is- Todd!" the Beadle announced.

Ana looked at Nellie and the two women burst into grins and giggles as they moved around the stage to meet Mr. Todd as he came off, pocketing his razor and a nice five quid.

"Maybe it's just me gentle heart," Nellie said as an aside to Ana as she helped Mr. Todd on with his jacket. "But I hate to see a boy treated like that." Ana turned her head back to the stage just in time to see Pirelli slap the blond little boy behind the curtain.

Ana wrinkled her nose as Mr. Todd and a man had an exchange, blocking them out momentarily. Her mother had hit her, certainly. She had slapped her around and left bruises countless times, but even then nothing so harsh, and not for no good reason. Ana had earned all those slappings. She talked back, got into fights, skipped class, smoked and drank and snuck out on warm nights and went into clubs where she was still too young to be gained enterance to. A ping of sympathy went out for the boy. She pursed her lips and looked back towards the baker and her baber.

"...then you shall surely see me there before the week is out, my friend." The beadle was saying to Mr. Todd.

"Come along, Ana," Nellie said softly, grabbing her hand and pulling her in tow. "When we get back, I want yeh to help me clean the shop. Maybe you can tell me on of yeh stories."

"Of course, Nellie," Ana said quietly, looking over her shoulder. She wasn't sure what she had been hoping to catch a glimpse of. Something to explain everything, maybe... But all she saw was the crowd dispersing and going about their day, as if nothing had happened. "Of course," Ana repeated, turning quietly without another word.

It wouldn't hit her until later the thought of the elaborate web she, the baker, and the barber would soon be weaving.


	4. Chapter 4

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the Girl Anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** Thank you for your reviews! You guys are so sweet. 8D Alright, I got a little confused, but I'm better now. I know how this chapter is gonna go, so go me for figuring that one out! I'm trying to set the plot solid, even if I still don't know if I want to make this SweeneyOC or not, because he's like, old and Ana is like, seventeen and even if Mr. Todd is delicious in every rendition of him, that's still creepy. [

Besides, Mrs. Lovett wants to rumple his bedding.

Ok, ok, ok, I KNOW the events don't go like this in the movie, but you know what? I think that the movie was screwed up. Because I was sitting with my buddies Matt and Yak watchin' it and all of a sudden we turn to each other, "Has anyone seen it be daylight since he made the damn chair?!"

So silly! So I'm streching things out. Besides, it's AU, right?

Right.

Without further ado, chapter four!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade.

p.s; no Dresden Doll lyrics this time. Five points to who can guess the song and artist. 8D

p.s.s; Andaere- I AM JEALOUS! Only because of the booklet. -sticks out tongue- So nyaah! And also, I try to reread through theses and fix as much of the mistakes as I can. I'm just too excited to post these up to take the time to get a beta. Maybe I'll start typing them in Microsoft Word so I can catch most of the mistakes. I'm sure the red lines would be blinding!

p.s.s.s; this chapter is REALLY long. I'm sorry, I just had to fit everything in there!

--

**chapter four** In Too Deep

_Everybodys got their problems_

_Everybody says the same things to you_

_Its just a matter how you solve them_

_What else are we supposed to do_

It all started the following Monday morning.

"Ana, would yeh help me for a tick, love?" Nellie called from the shop. Ana sat in the parlor, looking through a thick volume of poetry, the english too old for her to dicipher properly without rereading a line over and over again. The girl looked upwards, tucking a wild strand of her hair out of her face and saw the baker poking her head from around the corner of the parlor. Smiling, Ana stood and bound towards her, having learned exactly how to side step her swishing dress to avoid getting tangled up in the skirt and falling over. She MUST find where Nellie hid her jeans. It would make cleaning ten times quicker.

In the middle of the shop was an old chair with a red seat and back. Nellie looked at her with a tired smile, and her brow was already beaded with sweat. Ana's returning smile was sympathetic.

"Would yeh help me get this up ta Mr. Todd, my dear?" she questioned, patting the chair. "'E needs 'imself a good chair up there for his business."

Ana chuckled and pulled the skirt of her dress up a bit, tucking it so that it no longer brushed the floor. Her pink converse showed and Nellie shook her head at the shoes, before grabbing the back of the chair. Ana heaved the other end up and the two shuffled awkwardly through the court door, and Ana began up the stairs backwards, keeping her eyes on her feet the entire time, begging herself not to trip and fall.

Half way up the stairs the door above them opened and Ana looked back so quickly her neck hissed in pain. Mr. Todd stood at the top of the stairs, looking thoroughly amused at their little heaving of the chair. He began to descend the stairs, and while Nellie simply groaned and moved towards the side to let him by, Ana had a right mind to tell him off and was about to do so when he reached her stair, and reached around her to grab the arms of the chair. He was so close to her that Ana could smell the lather he used for the shaving cream like a colonge and a hint of vanilla. She turned her head slightly and let her eyes close for half a second to inhale deeply.

Mr. Todd held the chair by the arms and lifted it over Ana's head and held it against his chest as he turned on the stair, slightly awkwardly, and stomped up the steps with it. Ana and Nellie exchanged simliar looks of relief and confusion. The two women bound up the steps and into the barber shop just in time to see the man turn away from the chair, which he placed in the middle of the bare room, towards the window.

Nellie sighed and collapsed into the chair. "Not much of a chair, I'm 'fraid," she said to Mr. Todd, who didn't even give her the curtosy of looking her way. "Was me poor Alberts chair. Sit in it all day long, 'e did. 'Alf 'is leg give out with gout..."

Ana seated herself on a stool in the corner of the room, her hands in her lap. The three of them, partners in crime they soon would become, stood in absolute silence. Mr. Todd gazed longingly out the window. Nellie gazed longingly at Mr. Todd. Ana gazed longingly at the floorboard where the razors and journal had been hiding when this room had been hers. It had been over a week, now. She had been obviously noticed to be gone by now, as her mother wouldn't be able to believe that Ana could be silent for twenty minutes before being checked upon. What were they thinking now, she wondered? What thoughts were going through her mother's head? Her fathers? Aunt Helen's? Were they scared that their baby girl, their only child, was missing, gone forever? It certainly felt as if she would be gone forever, at least. How she got into this world, she decided, landed on the shoulders of that journal. Find the journal, perhaps she would get a way back. But would it be under that floor board? Or was it Mr. Todd's himself?

Ana looked up at the man in question who stared out over Fleet street in silence. _Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd... _Ana thought with a wry smile. There he was, the man who shaved the faces of gentlemen, who never thereafter were heard of again. It had said it there on the first page of that old, cracked, yellow-paged journal. It would do no good, she decided, to share her discovery with either of these two, for certainly they already knew in the back of their minds the fate of those who would accend the stairs. Nellie had said it herself. _Achin' to slit a throat..._ Ana surveyed the room, and her eyes zeroed in on the vanity, piled with things that certainly belonged to Mr. Todd. The velvet-red box was open and the silver gleamed in the pale sunlight from the large bay window. But nothing she could see looked anything to be a little journal. Nothing to take her back home. And then there it was- that little voice in the back of her head, telling her, _do you really want to go back there, with your mother, when you have kind Nellie here, now?_ Ana's brows scrunched up. Her mother needed her, she tried to reason with herself, she made her life more adventerous.

"Mr. Todd!"

All three of them, partners in crime they soon would become, turned to the open barber shop door just as a boy unfamiliar to Ana, perhaps a few years her senior, came stumbling in. He had a warm face and bright eyes, his shaggy brown hair fallen over half his face. He looked as if he'd just taken a lovely beating by the way blood was dried on his lip. Ana jumped off her stool as Mrs. Lovett stood from the chair.

"Antony..." Mr. Todd greeted in low tones, moving towards him as the young man began speaking rapid fire.

"Mr. Todd, I need your help! There's this girl! Such a sad girl, lonely, but beautiful, too!" Antony stammered. Mr. Todd placed one hand on the boy's shoulder and menuvered him towards the barber chair.

"Slow down, son," he said quietly. It surprised Ana, as she watched the exchange, the small bit of friendliness that the barber showed towards Antony. He pressed the boy's shoulder, and he sat down on the edge of Albert's old chair.

"There's this girl," Antony began again. "Her gaurdian keeps her locked up, but this morning, she dropped this!" He produced a key from his coat pocket and his smile was bright and hopefully. "Surely this must be a sign that Johanna wants me to help her! That's her name, Johanna... and Turpin is her gaurdian... he's a judge of some sort..."

Ana's eyes flickered to Nellie, who looked to Mr. Todd, who exchanged glances with both women. Johanna. The name meant something to each of them, but perhaps the most to Mr. Todd. Surely this Judge Turpin was the same man as the Judge that held the barber's daughter captive. It had to be, to coincidences were too similiar. Assuming, Ana reached out a hand to touch the back of the chair.

"How romantic," she told the boy. Antony turned to look at her, a smile on his face. Mr. Todd looked upon Ana with dark eyes, but she simply rose her brows at him and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

"Yes!" he agreed, before looking back to Mr. Todd. "If I could keep her here, for an hour or so, I would be forever in your dept... please."

Nellie spoke next, take a few steps towards the chair herself. "Bring 'er 'ere, love," she said quietly.

"Thank you, m'am!" Antony crowed, turning in the chair to flash Nellie the same bright smile. He looked back to Mr. Todd. "Sir? Please... Mr. Todd..."

The barber nodded his head. Just a small bob of his chin, but Antony jumped up and wrapped his hand around Mr. Todd's and shook it virgirously. He turned and pulled Ana into a tight hug, and then bound around to do the same to Nellie. She hook her head, obviously taken aback by the sudden affection. "Thank you! Thank you!" He scrambled towards the door. "Thank you, Mr. Todd, I'm forever in your debt!" He gave a half hearted, giddy, excited bow before he took off, his foot steps echoing on the wooden stairs.

Ana stared after him, still slightly off kiltered from the quick hug the boy had bestowed upon her. "Look there," Nellie was saying. "You'll 'ave your daughter back in no time. An' if you need to get rid of the boy, well..." Ana looked over to the baker just in time to see her make a motion across her throat. "There's a throat to slit, my dear!"

Mr. Todd looked towards Ana with narrowed eyes, then back to Mrs. Lovett. It took him a few seconds, but he raised his chin in silent acknowledgement. The look he gave her, and only her, sent chills down her spin. It was dark and dangerous and somehow ever so knowing. _You're part of this, now,_ that look said to her. _Blood spilled is on your hands, now,_ that look hissed maliciously. _No where to run, now,_ that look taunted. _Welcome, partner,_ that look said lastly.

Ana turned away from him. Her heart pounded in her throat and her fingers gripped the skirt of her dress.

"Leave me," Mr. Todd said roughly. Nellie grabbed her by the hand and pulled her from the room, leaving Mr. Todd in peace as was requested by him. Once out onto the landing, the air felt warmer, muggier, than it had inside the tiny little flat above the bakery. Exchanging silent glances, the two women descended the stairs and went back into the shop. Neither of them said anything as they went about cleaning and cooking for the customers that wouldn't come.

That night, Ana lay awake listening to Mr. Todd pace back and forth. She wondered what his thoughts were- surely of turmoil. He was soon to be reunited with his daughter, the father she would never remember having. It was almost tragic. Yet he _would_ be reunited with her. And that's all that should have mattered. That should have settled his thoughts. Yet he was still pacing as the first rays of light gray began to enter through the window, when Ana finally fell asleep against Nellie's shoulder, the warm quilt wrapped around the both of them.

When Ana awoke, it was mid-morning, and the only reason she'd been roused was the hard, cold floor hitting her behind harshly when she rolled out of bed. She had been thrashing, for a nightmare gripped her too tightly to let her wake on her own. She'd been up in Mr. Todd shop, in her dream, watching him pace away his wrongs. He looked so calm, but with each turn his face grew darker, sharper, harsher. His bruises drew deeper around his eyes until finally they were hollowed out. The pacing grew to thrashing, and as scared of him as she was, Ana couldn't move. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her mother calling her desperately, searching for her, but every time she'd turn her head, she was gone, like smoke.

The girl groaned as she heaved herself to sit on the bed. The night gown was wrapped around her legs, too long for her. Her eyes landed on a fresh pile of laundry that Nellie would probably ask her to fold later. Out of the bottom, low and behold, Ana saw a pair of trousers not fit for the era she was currently locked in. And not far away, a familiar black beater. "I'm not crazy!" she cried out delightedly, driving for the lundry and pulling her jeans and beater out from the pile. Nellie, who often asked her to tell her stories, had unknowingly caused Ana to feel as if she had been going crazy with the fever she had, had. But lo and behold!

Ana dressed quickly and revelled in the odd feeling it was to actually be wearing her jeans again. After wearing those dresses, they felt constricting, and her beater too loose. But all in all she felt more like the old Ana and ran out of the bedroom and through the parlor, into the shop. "Nellie!" She called.

"Oh, Ana, there you is! Would yeh mind bringin' up a spot of breakfest ta Mr. T? 'E could use it---" Nellie looked up from placing some oatmeal in a bowl onto the tray and her sentance was cut off with a sigh as she placed her hand on her hip, appraising Ana, who just grinned at her new baker friend brightly and happily.

"Now why yeh gotta go put those rags back on?" Nellie asked, sniffing slightly. "After I gave yeh that nice pretty dress? Dressed like a boy!" She huffed and turned away, scraping some eggs onto the tray. "An' yeh trousers 'as holes all in 'em!"

Ana frowned slightly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to risk hurting Nellie's feelings by not wearing the dresses she laid out for her, but it certainly did feel good to breath again without that corset. "Aw, Nell..." Ana said lightly, stepping up to the counter. "This is how I always dressed where I came from. All those dresses weren't normal attire for a girl my age!"

Nellie snorted and heaved the tray off the counter and thrust it towards Ana. "Not now, Ana," she said sternly. "Go take this up to Mr. T, then maybe you can tell me your stories. _After_ you put on something more fitting!"

Ana groaned and took the tray. "Yes, _mum_." She mocked. Something about the kind baker made it hard to rebel. Almost as if she didn't want to. Odd enough, she wanted to make Nellie happy. Like an actual friend. She'd been more of mother to her than her own had, and so when the strap of her beater slung down over her shoulder loosely, it became very annoying, and the thought of putting on a dress again seemed almost appealing. Nellie's lips twitched upward.

"I let yeh keep those hideous shoes, didn't I?"

Ana couldn't help it- she smiled. Pursing her lips, she turned on her heel and exited the court door, turning and going up the stairs one at a time, trying to balance the full breakfest on the tray. Oatmeal, eggs, and cornbread. Her stomach growled. Once at the top, Ana balanced the tray against one hip and didn't bother knocking as she invaded the barber's privacy.

"Mr. Todd," Ana said, trying to sound bright and airy. "I brought you up some breakfest!"

The man turned to look at her from his spot at the window, and his brows pulled together in confusion as his eyes appraised her. Finally, he pulled his lip back and he raised on single brow as Ana sat the tray down on the steamer trunk beside the door.

"What are you wearing?" he asked coldly. Ana looked down at herself and sighed, rolling her eyes into her head.

"I was cleanin'," she lied. "These made it easier to move around in."

Mr. Todd nodded, but didn't seem interested in the slightest, as he turned away from her.

"I brought you breakfest," Ana repeated, gesturing towards the tray. "Maybe I'll ask Nellie if we can bring up one of the tables from the parlor.. you ain't got a place to eat..."

"Leave it," Mr. Todd said absently.

"Don't you want any?" Ana asked curiously.

The man's hand came slamming down on the sill of the slanted window. He gazed out of it so intensely. Finally, he spoke, but it was ever so clear that he was speaking to himself. "Why doesn't the Beadle come? Before the week is out... that's what 'e said.."

Ana's brows pulled together as she came to stand by the chair. "Who says the weeks out? S'only Tuesday..."

"Plenty of time," Mr. Todd ground out.

"Just wait," Ana soothed as best she could from where she stood, and with how easily intimidating this man was. Her fingers twisted nervously around the arm of the chair. He turned to look at her darkly, staring her down. Like a snake and his prey. "Think it through," Ana suggested. "Watch it close, let it brew... Wait."

"And the judge," he whispered, raising a brow, challengingly. "When do you expect I get to him?"

Her eyes flashed as she leaned over the chair. "Don't you know? Silly man, half the fun is to plan the plan! All good things come to those who can wait."

Mr. Todd's lip twitched. Not exactly a smile, not completely a grimace. The look he gave her acknowledged now that she was in as far as he was, as far as Nellie was. Blood was on her hands. Welcome, partner. It as odd, getting approval of any sort from the dark barber. He turned away, towards the window, and the whole atmosphere changed.

"Out," he said quietly. Then, more urgently. "Out! Keep the boy downstairs. Out!"

Ana took a deep breath and turned, slamming the barber shop door closed behind her as she ran down the steps. Signor Pirelli was crossing the Fleet street towards the shop. Nellie was halfway out of the court door when the man stepped up to her shop. Ana could hear her high voice chatting it up. Her eyes, wild and wide, glanced at Ana. She smiled warmly.

"Mr. Todd will be happy to see you, sir!" She said, stepping off the stairs and out of the man's way. "You don't mind if Mrs. Lovett and I give your boy a nice, big meat pie, do you? What's your name, son?"

"Si, si, do whatever," the man said snotily as he began to ascend the stairs.

Ana wrapped one arm around the young boy, blond hair no longer under his cap, his face rough and hardened seeming to brighten at the thought of a pie. "Thank yeh, miss!" And then, more shyly. "I'm Toby."

Nellie frowned and leaned over to Ana. "What was that about?" she whispered.

"Patience isn't one of his virtues, is it?" Ana hissed back.

Nellie snorted and grabbed a pie off the counter, blowing off a plate and setting it down. Ana menuvered the boy into the booth and Nellie sat the plate down. "Eat up, Toby, dear," the baker said brightly. "Ana, why don't you go change out of them rags of yehs?"

"Why you dress'd like a boy?" Toby said around a mouthful of pie. Ana's lip curled back at the sight of the disgusting mixture dribble down his chin as Nellie laughed warmly at the question. Peevishly, Ana turned and stalked from the shop. In the bedroom as she was peeling on the many layers that she'd finally learned to do by herself, even the corset, there was a curious sound that echoed from the baber shop above. A curious thumping sound. She tied her last lace as she heard Nellie in the shop pounding random objects on the counter.

"Always work to be done!" she was saying as Ana came back in. "That's m'motto."

Nellie had a wild look in her eyes as they met Ana's, the thumping from above finally ceasing. Toby was peering at the pair of them, sucking whatever piece of pie had escaped his mouth off his fingers.

"Quite the appitite you 'ave there," Nellie said warmly, moving to sit on the booth beside Toby. "Reminds me of me poor Albert... liked to gorge 'imself to blotation, 'e did... didn't 'ave your nice head of hair, though..."

"To tell you the truff," Toby said, pulling at the blond locks to reveal it nothing but a wig- a ruse for Pirelli's own gain -and his short messy brown hair underneath which he scratched and mussed up. "It gets awful 'ot..."

Ana sank onto the stool, but only a moment of rest was rewarded, for Toby suddenly jumped up with a fright.

"Oh, no! 'E's got a meetin' wiff 'is tailor!" Toby gasped as he scrambled for the door. "If 'e's late, 'e'll blame me!" Nellie barely managed out the first syllable of 'no, wait!' before the boy was gone, dashing up the stairs to the barber shop.

"Go after 'im!" Nellie hissed to Ana, who obeyed as quickly as she could, pulling up her skirt as she dashed up the steps after the boy. At the top of the stairs, her heart thundered in her chest as she saw Mr. Todd and Toby, but no flamboyantly dressed man that was Pirelli. No, the door to the shop was held open by Mr. Todd, a cup of tea in his other hand. When his eyes caught her over Toby's head, a smile spread across his lips. But like all his other smiles, an alternative motive lay behind those lips.

"Tell you what," Mr. Todd purred. "Why don't you 'ave Ana 'ere give you another pie, and a nice tug 'o gin?"

Toby looked over his shoulder and a smile was lighting his young face. "Wow! Thank yeh, sir!" He said, looking back up at Mr. Todd.

"Go on down and tell Nellie to get it for you," Ana said warmly, patting Toby on the back as he dashed down the stairs eagerly. She put her hands on her hips and entered the shop, pushing past Mr. Todd who had placed his body in the door way to stop her from entering. She looked around with frown on her lips. "Where's Pirelli?"

Her eyes snapped to Mr. Todd as gave an annoyed sigh, closing the door behind her. He gestured with one big hand towards the trunk behind the door. Ana looked at her, frowning. Suddenly, her hands clapped up around her mouth. Four fingers twitched out of the edge of the trunk. Her stomach turned over itself. The man set his tea calmly on the work desk, his dark eyes not once changing from the calm, if not slightly peevish expression. In his right hand gleamed one of those beautiful silver razors. "Mr. Todd!" Ana hissed urgently. He held the open razor aloft, his other hand on top of the trunk.

"Look away," he commanded in a soft, almost caring, voice. Ana felt frozen in a mix of digust and slight fear. She remembered the way he had angerly grabbed her wrists just the other day and shoved her from the room. How easily could she have caught her death at his hands? And there in the trunk lay an innocent man! When she didn't move, Mr. Todd snarled, "Look away, Ana!"

The girl did as she was told, holding her hands over her lips, the bile rising in the back of her throat. She slammed her eyes shut as the soun dof the trunk opening behind her echoed in the bare room. A faint groan came from behind her before a dull, squeelching sound and gurgling splatters. Ana felt sick as she pictured the clean throat slit. She only turned to look when a thump of dead weight came from behind her. Mr. Todd had a splatter of blood across his white sleeve, his razor dripping with the sticky liquid. The looked at her with an odd glint in his eyes, almost giddy.

"Pardon me, Mr. Todd," she whispered, turning to escape the room. Everything seemed suffocating all of a sudden. Her retreat was halted abruptly by a strong hand tight around her wrist. He tugged her close, his face inches from hers. Ana turned her eyes away, staring at the floor.

"Try not to get sick on Mrs. Lovett's floor," he hissed, letting her wrist free. There was much more malice in his voice, behind those words. A warning that she couldn't quite understand but knew she should heed. Her stomach churned as she truned away and stumbled hopelessly from the room. She made it down the stairs, truning into the shop, witnessing Nellie pouring Toby his who-knew-how-manyth glass of gin. By the way the boy looked lackluster, it was one too many. Nellie lifted her gaze as Ana sat shakily on her stool, holding her stomach. A concerned look flit across the kind bakers face, but she said nothing. The sickening gurgle of a dying man played over and over in Ana's head, making it very hard to heed Mr. Todd's advice on not getting sick on Nellie's nice clean floor.

"I think I'll pop in on Mr. T for a tick," Nellie said brightly, standing and capping the bottle of gin.

"Leave the bottle," Toby requested. Boy drank like a sailor! Nellie snorted and turned, giving Ana a pointed look, before escaping upstairs towards the barber's flat. Ana started quietly at the floor, trying to calm her raging thoughts. The small part of her that remembered the Sunday school teachings screeched how wrong this was. The other part of her - the one that wanted to keep Nellie safe, and even to keep Mr. Todd out of trouble - reasoned that she had no where else to go. You have to work with what you're given. _Might not be so bad_, her mind reasoned. _Might be easier just keeping your mouth shut. _Who needed to know? Taking justice into his own hands, Nellie had sadi, that's all he was doing. The man who'd met his fate must've done something. Ana's stomach settled just slightly.

"Ana," Toby squeaked from the booth. He clutched the bottle in one hand. "Do you mind if I wait for Pirelli in that parlor, there?"

Unable to tell him no- for his employer wouldn't be coming back -Ana nodded numbly and watched him disappear around the corner.

_Might even be fun_, a sick voice in the corner of her mind hissed excitedly.

Ana jumped when she saw a man, an older man dressed richly for the era, moved by the court door and towards the stairs up to Mr. Todd's shop. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, but soon Nellie flew down the stairs and into the shop. "The Judge!" she hissed excitedly as she grabbed Ana, pulling her into a playful waltz. "The Judge! Turpin! Oh! The judge shall get a shave he'll never forget!" Nellie wrapped an arm around Ana's shoulders. "Where's the boy?"

"He's in the parlor," Ana said, afraid to speak too loudly. "The Judge?" she repated. Nellie nodded furiously.

"Out Mr. Todd shall get his vengence!" Nellie crooned, clapping her hands as she again pulled Ana into a clumsy dance. "And 'e'll get 'is daughter back to 'im! Then we can all leave this place! You an' me an' Johanna an' Mr. Todd!" An odd bubbly excitement gripped Ana- but also a fear. If they left, surely she would never get home! But Nellie's face looked so happy.

"Could we bring the boy?" Ana asked. "He's alone, now... the lease we could do."

"An' the boy!" Nellie crowed, dancing around the counter.

Ana smiled warmly at the baker. Such a kind woman- surely the death of a few corrupt souls was worth the happiness of many others? Suddenly, Nellie's eyes grew soft as she moved around the counter to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry you 'ad ta' be up there for... well..." She squeezed her shoulders. "Mr. T got no sense when it comes to ladies some times. 'E wanted me to tell yeh that the man tried to black mail 'im. 'Alf 'is earnings..." Nellie smiled that wry smile. "'E doesn't want teh frighten yeh to the law."

Of course he was worried of his own skin. "Never," she vowed. With that one word, she sold her soul to the devil.

"Oh, no," Nellie murmured quietly, her eyes at the window. Across the street was Antony, dodging a coach as he skit across the cobble stones. Nellie ran out to intercept him as he tried to get up to the shop.

"Mr. T is with a customer!" She said loudly. Antony gazed longingly up the stairs.

"It'll just be a moment, M'am!" Antony pleaded, dodging around her and trumping up the stairs. Ana grit her teeth and watched the boy push open the door, already speaking with his excitement. She could see him half way out of the shop door. Nellie and her hovered at the bottom of the steps. Then the explosion came.

"---Keep their company but you'll have none of mine!" The Judge shoved past the young man and Ana watched as he came stomping down the stairs. He was well dressed, a few specks of shaving cream stuck to his cheeks and chin. His eyes were dark as they felled upon Ana with a sick look in them. It made her shiver with disgust. They way he appraised her before he stalked away made her skin crawl.

"Out!" The barber's booming voice sounded, followed not long after by Antony wheeling down the steps and taking off down the street.

"Oh, no..." Nellie murmured. "Come on, then." She started up the stairs. Ana glanced after Antony's retreating form until he disappeared around the corner. Then, she started up the steps afer Nellie, closing the shop door behind her.

"What's all your yellin' for?" Nellie demanded of the barber. Mr. Todd stood behind his chair, his razor still held limp in his hand. His brows were pulled together, his eyes dark with a great bloodlust. His mouth fell slack as a whisper escaped his lips.

"I had him..."

"I know! That sailor went barging up before I could stop 'im an' we saw'd 'em both runnin' down the stairs." Nellie peeved.

"I had him!" Mr. Todd snapped. "His throat was bare beneath my hands..." He threw himself full tilt into a pace. Ana shrunk back against the door.

"Now, now, dear..." Nellie warned. "Calm down."

"NO!" He shouted, rounding on her. "I had him! His throat was there and he'll never come again!"

"Easy now," Nellie soothed. "Hush, love, hush..."

"Why did I wait?!" he shouted. He stopped pacing, his eyes landing on Ana. His head cocked curiously and he raised one ashen had. "You," he hissed, shrugging past Nellie to grab Ana by the upper arm, yanking her back from the door. "You told me to wait!" He accused. His grip tightened around her arm and Ana clenched her teeth tightly, her jaw beginning to ache. Shr asied one hand and dug her choppy, bitten down nails into the back of his hand, yanking it off her. Her flesh was left tender ontop of another bruise. They stared each other down before Mr. Todd turned away in fury, stalking to the window. Nellie moved towards Ana and wrapped a worried, motherly hand around her shoulders. Ana panted, her temper raging at the surface, staring quietly at Mr. Todd, trying to queel the anger that simmered to match Mr. Todd's own tantrum.

"They all deserve to die!" Mr. Todd snarled, wheeling around to gaze at the two women. "Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why!" He moved towards them, a smile sickeningly crazed on his lips. "Because in all of the whole human race, Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men, and only two! The one who stays put in his proper place and the one with his foot in the other one's face. Look at me, Mrs. Lovett, look at you!" Panting, he whirled around to stare angrily out the window.

"And what does that make you, then?" Ana spat, ignoring the way Nellie clutched her wrist. "That's a double standard, Mr. Todd."

It was if he knew he was intimidating. Ana swallowed her words as the barber turned on her again. He stalked over, his hand coming down on her shoulder with a firm grip, but much gentler than before. "We _all_ deserve to die," Mr. Todd amended coldly. HIs head cocked and a taunting smile touched his lips. "Even you, little Ana, even I." He looked to Nellie and placed his other hand on her shoulder as well, looking at both women together. "Because the lives of the whicked should be made brief and for those of us left, death will be a relief." Mr. Todd dropped his hands and turned away. He was at his window, clenching the razor in his hands.

"And I'll never... see Johanna..." he grit his teeth and Nellie took a small step towards him. The pulsing bruise on her forearm gave Ana enough reason not to pity him. "And my Lucy... lies in ashes... and I'll never see my girl again..."

The man turned sharply to look at them, eyes wild and wide. Ana felt on edge as he stalked towards them- Nellie and scurried back to her side, putting herself between her and Mr. Todd, bless her heart.

"But the work waits!" he hissed. "I'm alive at last... and full of joy!"

Silence followed the barber's rant. Ana's eyes watched him warily, even if he stood still on the other side of Albert's chair. He was lost in his own world, panting in excitement. He wasn't looking at them anymore, but past them, past everything in his vision. His temper tantrum was fading, as was the ache in her arm, but her temper still simmered under the surface. Or maybe it was the rational fear of this man. His face seemed drained of all color. Finally, Mrs. Lovett leaned forward.

"That's all very well, but what're we going to do about 'im?" She nodded towards the drunk. "Ello? Mr. T? Are you listenin' to me?" The man looked hopelessly lost, brought back from his world. Sighing heavily, Nellie wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and tucked her arm around his back. "Great, useless thing... Ana, 'elp me with 'im down stairs."

Ana wrinkled her lip back in disgust.

"'Is behavior was deplorable, I know," Nellie said softly. "But the bloke is 'eavy!"

"Nothing but a tantrum," Ana amended, giving in as she went to the other side of Mr. Todd. The smell of vanilla was drowning under the scent of the shaving cream. With the both of them together, it wasn't hard to lug the barber from his shop and down into the shop, where Ana would get a real taste of what she was getting herself into.


	5. Chapter 5

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the Girl Anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note **Alright, the first scene of this chapter was origionally intended to be part of chapter four, but it was already six thousand something words by the time I was done with it! So I just thought, hell, split it up! Besides, this chapter is when all the fun stuff happens. 

Thank you for your kind reviews! My reviewer of the day who gets a big hug and a shout out is Insanity's Partner, and I think I know how I got on your author's alert list- I HAVE written Twilight Fan Fiction, once upon a time. I was formerly known as Shawnell.

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter five** A Little Priest

"Now..." Nellie said as she pulled the curtain over the door to the parlor after grabbing the bottle of gin from Toby who fell asleep promptly on the floor infront of the fireplace. She turned back towards Ana and Mr. Todd who sat side by side in the booth of the shop. The baker poured each a small glass of gin. "Drink it down," she ordered.

"Now," she continued, taking her place on the stool and resting her elbows on her thighs. "We've got a body mouldering away upstairs... now what do you expect we do about that thing?"

Mr. Todd spun the gin around in his glass before looking over it at Nellie. "Wait until it's dark.. take it to some secret place... bury it..."

"Chop it up piece by piece," Ana said lazily as she downed her glass of gin. It burned her throat on the way down. "Burn it."

"Well... sure, we could do that..." Nellie murmured, standing and moving towards one of the windows in the shop, peering from behind the lace curtains. Ana frowned at the thought of dragging that trunk somewhere far away. She grabbed the bottle of gin and poured herself another glass. Mr. Todd rose his brows at her. The two exchanged quiet looks. Silent looks- as if Mr. Todd was uttering some sort of apology for his actions earlier and Ana was telling him to think nothing of it, his tantrums were becomming accustomed to her. But of course, everything got lost in translation.

"S'pose he doesn't have any relatives that would come pokin' around up there..." Nellie was saying. She turned away from the window, a look on her face that suggested she had some sort of revelation. A smile flit across her lips as she looked to Ana and Mr. Todd. "Well.. you know me... I get a bright idea and I just keep thinking... Seems a downright... shame."

"Shame?" Mr. Todd repeated.

"Seems an awful... waste... Such a nice, plump frame wot's 'is name has... Well, had..." Nellie tapped her finger against her chin. "Has! Nor it can't be traced..." She paced slowly towards the counter. "Bus'ness needs a lift... debts to be erased... Think of it as thrift... as a gift." She looked over her shoulder at the pair at the booth. "If, of course, you get my drift."

Ana gave her an annoyed look and shook her head.

"No?" Nellie said, slightly disappointed. "Seems an awful waste... I mean... With the price of meat what it is... when you get it... if you get it..."

"HAH!" Mr. Todd said loudly, slapping his hand down on the table top. Ana pulled her brows together. A slow, dawning realization came over her as Nellie nodded, stepping forward, a wide grin on her lips.

"Yes, Ana?" Nellie asked excitedly.

"Oh, no, Nellie," Ana groaned, pressing the heel of her palm into her eyes. She didn't mean... did she?

"Oh, yes, Ana!" Mr. Todd said, slapping the table.

She did.

"Why waste, I suppose," Ana finally agreed, looking up and flashing her baker a smile. Nellie clapped her hands together excitedly and began to pace to and fro in her light stepping way.

"Take, for instance, Mrs. Mooney and her pie shop!" She said. "Business never better using only pussy cats and toast! Now, a pussy's good for six or seven at the most! And I'm sure they can't compare as far as taste!"

"Mrs. Lovett!" Mr. Todd said, sliding to his feet and starting towards her. "What a charming notion!"

"Well, it does seem a waste!" Nellie laughed.

"Eminently practical and yet appropriate as always!" He said.

"It's an idea..." Nellie crooned.

"Mrs. Lovett how I've lived without you all these years I'll never know!" He wrapped one large arm around her shoulders and turned to grin at Ana. "How delectable, yes, Ana? Also undetectable!"

"Think about!" Nellie said to Ana. "Lots of other gentleman'll simply come in for a shave! Won't they? Think of all them pies!"

"How choice!" Mr. Todd said. Ana jumped to her feet and shook her head, finally allowing herself to smile at this plan- this ingenious, flawless plan. She wanted to be disgusted with herself, she wanted to gag and toss up her breakfest at the thought of what was to become of that man upstairs. Baked into a _pie_. It became increasingly clear, however, that the pair meant more than just the one time. Over and over this process would be repeated. And where would they get the space? The shop was small! And how would they get the bodies from the barber shop to the pies to the oven without people noticing such a thing? An ingenious, flawless plan that needed some serious kink-working-out.

"How rare," she agreed. Mr. Todd's answering smile was so surprising that she was still trying to comprehend it as he pulled her close to his other side with one arm slung around her shoulder. The trio leaned to the window and peered outside.

"What do you hear out there, my dears?" Mr. Todd crooned, his hand resting lightly on the back of Ana's neck. Shivers errupted down her spine and her brows pulled together in the middle of her forehead. Maybe it was the gin that was making her go along with this. If it was, then she wanted another glass and many to follow. She had beat a girl within an inch of her life, once. But cooked a man that really hadn't done harm before? Oh, no. That was beyond her forte.

"What's the sound of the world, Mr. Todd?" Nellie asked, looking up at him with excited eyes.

"Those crunching noises pervading the air!" He crowed.

"Yes, Mr. Todd," Ana agreed. "I hear it."

Mr. Todd grinned down at her. "It's man devouring man, my pet. And who are we to deny it in here?"

Nellie laughed excitedly and broke away, skipping towards the oven. Mr. Todd kept his hand on the back of Ana's neck even as they both turned to follow the baker with their eyes. "These are desperate times, Mrs. Lovett," he said with a deep chuckle in his throat. "And desperate measures _must_ be taken."

"Here we are!" Nellie teased, plopping down a pie on the counter top. Mr. Todd edged closer and wrinkled his nose.

"What is that?" he questioned.

"It's priest," Nellie crooned. "Have a little priest!"

"Is it any good?" He asked. Ana danced around to the other side of the counter and leaned beside Nellie on the table. Sudden inspiration hit her and she pointed down at the little pie.

"Sir!" Ana joked, playing along. "It's too good! They don't commit sins of the flesh, so it's rather fresh."

Mr. Todd slapped his hand on the counter top, his deep laughter such an odd sound to Ana. It scared her, and yet a small part of her longed to hear it over and over and over. Which was odd in itself, because he had made it very clear before to her that he was not a nice man. Her arm was still slightly tender and that made her want to hate him, the way he man handled her like that. But he smile, tightlipped but wide across his face, warming the ashen features and smoothing some of the lines out, was a little bit worth it. Just a little. She leaned over the counter on her elbows and looked up at the man with a open-mouthed smile.

"Awful lot of fat!" He said, poking the pie with his finger tips.

"Only where it sat!" Ana assured.

"Haven't you got poet, or something of that sort?" He questioned.

"No, sir," Nellie crooned. "You see, the trouble with poet is how do you know it's deceased? Try the priest!"

"Not as hearty was bishop, perhaps," Mr. Todd said critically, peering at the pie that probably contained nothing more than lard. She didn't blame him for not really tryng it. "But then again," he went on. "Not as bland as curate, either!"

"And good for business too!" Nellie pipped up. "Always leaves you wanting more."

"Trouble is," Ana said lightly. "We only get it on Sundays." She and Nellie burst into a fit of poorly stiffled laughter.

The two women moved towards the window on the other side of the shop, peering out into the street. Nellie tapped her fingers on the class as they peered out into the world. Ana felt Mr. Todd behind her, just his presence, leaning over her shoulder to see what they were seeing.

"Lawyer's rather nice," Nellie murmured.

"If you want to pay," Ana defended.

"Order something else though to follow since no one should swallow it twice!"

Mr. Todd's chuckle startled Ana. "Anything that's lean?" He questioned.

"Well," Nellie thought curiously. "If you're British and loyal, you might enjoy Royal Marine! Anyway, it's clean..."

"Ah, but my dear Nell, it tastes of wherever it's been!" Ana crowed, the two women leaning into each other, laughing quiet laughs.

"Is that squire, on the fire?" Mr. Todd asked as he leaned his fore arm on the window, his other hand resting on Nellie's shoulder, Ana trapped between the two of them.

"Mercy, no, sir!" Ana said, looking up at him with a flash in her eyes. "That there's grocer!"

"Looks a bit thicker. Are you sure it isn't... vicar?" He challenged.

"No, it 'as to be grocer, it's green!" Nellie crooned.

Mr. Todd wrapped one large arm around Ana's shoulders and pulled her into a clumsy dance, swinging her around as Nellie laughed warmly from the counter. Being so close made her head spin, not to mention the jerking movements that were not at all smooth or gentle. The man couldn't dance, and it didn't help that she had the grace of a giraffe on stilts.

"The history of the world, my sweet," Mr. Todd said to Ana, pulling to a stop, but with his arm still around her.

"Save a lot of graves, do a lot of relatives favors!" Nellie reasoned, chewing on her pinky nail.

"Is those below serving those up above," Mr. Todd continued.

"Every body shaves... Think of all them pies!" Nellie said, slapping one hand down into a mess of flower on the counter.

"How gratifying for once to know that those above will serve those down below!" Mr. Todd released Ana, and the girl moved away greatfully. It was so odd to see him with light in his eyes, playing and dancing and god forbid that odd noise that left his throat every so often, laughing! Pity it had to be over such a... subject. But Ana wasn't complaining either way. When Mr. Todd wasn't angry, she discovered, the better.

"Now let's see here..." Mrs. Lovett said, peering into the small oven by the window. She reached one hand in and pulled out a pie, dropping it on the counter.

"What is that?" Ana questioned brightly, leaning her elbows on the counter.

"It might be a bit stringy," Nellie said with a gleam in her eyes. "But the o'course it's... fiddle player!"

Mr. Todd shook his head and pointed at the pie. "No, this isn't fiddle player- it's piccolo player."

Ana snorted a laugh. "'Ow can you tell?"

"It's piping hot!" Mr. Todd said matter-o-factly. Nellie and Ana exchanged glances before the baker managed out between a fit of laughter.

"Then blow on it, first!"

The barber moved around the counter and took Mrs. Lovett by the hand, swinging her into the same awkward dancing- but with the baker it somehow looked more graceful. A smile graced Ana's lips as she watched them. Her baker and her barber. Yes, that sounded just about right.

"The history of the world, my pet," he said, swinging her around and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, Mr. Todd, what does it tell?" Ana questioned.

"Is who gets eaten and who gets to eat!" He explained with a twisted grin on his lips- evil, and dark and not at all soft like Ana expected it to be. No, that smile had hidden promise behind it, of pain and destruction. Suddenly, remembering the sound of his laughter, it seemed much darker to her now.

"And, Mr. Todd, too Mr. Todd, who gets to sell!" Nellie pipped up, drawing Ana from her thoughts.

"But fortunately, it's also clear..." He paused, glancing between the women before sweeping a hand up in a finale motion. "That everybody goes down well with beer!"

Nellie laughed and moved to Ana's side, grabbing the girls hand and pulling her away from the counter. "Have chairty towards the world, my dears," Mr. Todd said. "We'll take the customers that we can get. We'll not discriminate great from smell, no, we'll serve anyone, meaning anyone, and to anyone, at all."

"High born and low, my love," Nellie agreed.

Mr. Todd's hand gripped Ana's shoulder tightly. She tried not to feel too uneasy, but it was difficult. The evil in him revolted her. _You're no better_, her mind reprimanded. _You've got blood on your hands, now. Welcome, partner_. She looked up at him, his face smoothed, yet his eyes crinkled just around the edges, his ebony irises alight with shining excitement. The childish giddiness hadn't faded just yet. She bit her lip, moving away from Mr. Todd, his hand dropping to his side.

"Times is hard, Mrs. Lovett," Mr. Todd agreed warmly. Neelie clapped her hands together, looking up at the ceiling.

"We'll 'ave to take care of the aye-talian before 'is meat can't be used." The baker said thoughtfully, tapping her fingers rhythmically against her chin. Ana cringed indwardly at the thought. What, she wondered, would this do for her already unstable mentality? She thought back to all the horror movies she'd seen about human-chopping slasher-flick murderers. All the grotesque things she'd seen on screen seemed almost to pale in comparison to what was to come. All the earlier fun seemed to be sucked from the room. Ana felt suddenly cold, a chill raising goose pimples along her flesh. She watched as Mr. Todd poured another glass of gin and was surprised when he shoved it under her nose.

"Drink it down," he ordered as Ana took the glass in her hands daintily. "You look like you're going to be ill."

"Thanks, Mr. Todd." Ana mumured, sipping the gin- it stung all the way down yet again. Nellie peered at her from around the counter.

"Are you alright, darling?" She questioned warmly, placing a hand on her back. Ana looked between the two of them and her stomach sank. To her right was Nellie, the picture perfect vision of a loving devoted mother, if not an evil genious under the surface. Ana couldn't deny, being without any other company but Nellie had done her wonders and the care she had for the woman was that of a daughter. And to her left was the mysterious Mr. Todd, having shown for the first time any sort of emotion other than a cold rage. Despite that his humor and amusement had been sick and wrong, it had been, to Ana, something beautiful. Something beautiful in the gloom. The pair were like light houses in the dark- one perhaps a bit more dim... Quickly making her resolve, Ana shook her head.

"Nothing..." she whispered hoarsely. "I'll be okay."

Mr. Todd nodded and grabbed her roughly by the arm, pulling her towards the door and giving her a good shove. "Good. Then help Mrs. Lovett bring the trunk from my shop to the bake house."

Ana wanted to scream at him never to man-handle her again, but all she managed was a threatening growl from the back of her throat before Nellie pulled her by the hand out of the shop to the flat upstairs.

That night Ana learned more than she ever wanted to know about cutting, slicing, gutting, chopping and grinding up a human body. Clothes had to be burned and what wouldn't be burned would be left for Mr. T to take away after nightfall. Valuables were kept. Burning skin smells awful, so chuck the remains into the furnace inbetween pies. Bones were left to be taken away after nightfall. Long, smooth strokes while skinning. Run the meat through the grinder three times. Keep your hands away from your face while working. Ignore the face... always ignore the face.

The cool night air soothed Ana later in the evening when she had Nellie finally crawled into bed, the blanket too hot for that night. Her thoughts were clouded with Nellie's teachings. Her father had been a butcher, turns out. Been cutting meat since she was young, turns out. With Nellie working beside her, she decided, it would be easier to focus on her always happy chatter rather than the body counter. She'd only done one- how much more difficult would six or seven a night be? Ana didn't want to think about it. No, but it was hard. The smell of the body was stiched into her nostrils, but at least she hadn't gotten sick yet. Ana rolled over, the night gown she wore hiked up around her hips, and nuzzled into Nellie's sholder. She tried to concentrate on the baker's cool skin rather than the popping sound the ribs had made when Nellie pulled them out resounding in her ears. But every time she closed her eyes, the lifeless, open mouthed face reared it's ugly head, no pun intended.

She'd all about given up on sleep and instead stood from the bed, smoothing her ngiht gown down over her legs- it brushed her ankles. Quietly, Ana stepped out of the room and into the palor. Young Toby lay fast asleep on the couch infront of the fireplace and Ana smiled at his gin-induced stupor. His face was gritty and he looked like he hadn't a proper bath in a good while. His thumb was stuck in his mouth, his breathing silghtly rattling. Ana watched him sleep for a short while, reluctant to leave the cool parlor. However, in a quest to find a cure to the ghostly vision of decapitation, Ana moved on, finding herself in the shop, eying the bottle of gin left on the able from that afternoon. When she shook it the glass was full of empty spaces. But anything to get the image of Pirelli's dead expression out of her mind! Uncappiny the bottle, Ana tipped her head back, the gin's previous burn not so strong as before.

A business like this could drive a girl to drink herself into oblivion! _Don't worry_, her mind cooed as the alcohol began to take a delicious tingling affect. _You'll become desensitized soon enough_. Ana sighed, the shop cold and quiet and dark all around her. She sat at the booth, her consience weighing twenty pounds, the weight pressing into her chest.

Another gulp of gin.

She wondered mildly what it would be like to be in one of those pies. Of course, being dead, it wouldn't feel like much. Her mind wandered to what it would be like to be awake the entire time you were being sliced- Pirelli's wide, shocked eyes haunted. Ana chugged the last bit of gin from the bottle.

"It's not befitting of a woman to drink like a sailor," a deep, rough voice came from the court door and Ana jumped at the sound. Mr. Todd stood there and Ana hadn't remembered hearing him come down from the steps. She looked to the empty bottle of gin and shrugged her shoulders. "Why are you up so late?" his toned suggested he really didn't care. Ana shrugged again.

"I couldn't sleep," she murmured. "I keep seeing his face. It's stick in my head. Those eyes..." She looked back up to Mr. Todd, his shadowed frame the only thing visible. The air seemed to change as the man stepped into the room. An odd electricity, a mix between a childish, giddy excitement and a cold offstanding feeling.

"It'll go away," Mr. Todd assured. "That consience of yours."

Ana snorted an intoxicated laugh. "What're you going awake, Mr. T?" she asked. The man said nothing for a long moment.

"Working," he said softly.

"I didn't hear you moving," Ana accused.

"I was in the bake house." He admitted.

"Whatever for?" she asked. Mr. Todd gave an annoyed sigh.

"Come with me." The barber turned and stepped out of the door, turning onto the stairs. Ana didn't move from where she was for half a beat before finally scrambling to her feet and following after Mr. Todd up the stairs. She wanted herself to feel uneasy, but the gin made her warm in the cheeks and her judgement clouded. Whatever could be up in his shop was beyond her. On the landing was a small pile of things- wood things and such. Curiosity abound, Ana followed him into the shop, a few lit candles chasing away the darkness. In the middle of his room was the chair- but it looked too different. It looked bigger than before and the vinyl was more of a deep red and a foot grate was at the bottom. A peddle sat at the side of the chair and cogs were stuck haphazardly through each other. At the bottom of the arms were two carefully carved animal heads.

"What'd you do to Nellie's chair?" She snorted, wrapping her arm around her stomach. "Mr. Todd looked at her with an almost upset expression. As if to say, _ You don't like it?_

"It tips back," he explained, running a hand over the back of the chair. "When you press this peddle. I was down in the bake house to see how I could fix a trap door so the bodies slide down. I wont have to deal with finding a place to hide them." He pet the back of the chair lovingly, his eyes gazing upon his handywork. "I haven't found a way just yet..." He admitted quietly. "But it shouldn't be too hard."

Ana rose a brow. "Does it work?" she asked. "Besides your lack of trap-door-problem?"

Mr. Todd's smile was malicious as he leaned over the chair to look at her, eyes flashing. He gestured towards the chair. "Care to find out for me, my pet?" he questioned. Ana narrowed her eyes at him. Both his hands were bare- no razor, thankfully -and the gin whispered that all would be well, nothing was out of the ordinary here! So, following the gin, Ana moved to sit on the chair, running her hands over the smooth wood of the arms. She carefully tucked her night gown around her legs so it wouldn't fly up if he were to press the peddle unexpectedly.

She could sense him behind her. All her hair stood on end the moment she felt a cool metal against her throat- one of his razors, surely pulled out of his arse. Her breathing heaved as she felt him pull the metal, held flat to her throat, across her skin in the motion of slitting a throat. Gripping the arms tightly so she wouldn't be spilled onto the floor, Ana let out a soft yelp as the man suddenly stomped on the peddle on the side of the chair. It straightened out like a fold away bed and tipped back in a rocky, not quite smooth motion. Her fingers hurt with the force she used to grip the arms on the chair as she peered at the floor a few inches from her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest, in her throat, and her vision blurred, her head beginning to ache.

Suddenly, the chair righted itself and her breath hitched before she expelled it slowly.

"My, my... that works lovely," Mr. Todd said. His foot stomped against the floor behind it. "Now to get the door..."

"Don't pound your foot like that!" Ana snapped. "You'll wake Nellie."

Mr. Todd rose his brow lazily before turning away from her. "Leave me, then," he said lackidasically, waving one hand in a slow flop. Ana frowned and pulled her brows together, not bothering to move from her spot on the chair. When she didn't move, Mr. Todd turned his face, a dark look in his eyes. "I said leave me," he hissed.

"Why do you do that?" Ana questioned, looking down at her feet. "You either want me here or you don't, but you can't have both whenever you feel like---"

"OUT!" He roared. That'll do it. Ana was up and out of that chair quicker than she'd ever retreated in her life. Her feet stumbled over themselves as she dashed from the flat and back down the stairs, panting and shivering by the time she made it back into the shop. Everything was as quiet as it had been when she left. When she moved through the parlor, Toby was still asleep, as was Nellie when she slipped back into the bedroom. Feeling suddenly tired, Ana crawled into bed and pulled the blanket up over them both, pressing herself into the woman's side.

Nellie stirred and moved one arm around her shoulder. "Hnnn... Jesus, Ana, yeh feet are freez'ng," she murmured sleepily, holding her to her body, Ana's head resting on her collarbone. "Where were yeh, love?"

"Thought I heard a noise..." Ana whispered, wrapping one arm around her waist, the other folded up against her own tummy.

"It's just this ol' 'ouse..." Nellie said tiredly, turning and resting her cheek ontop of Ana's head. "Makes noises... like it's talkin'.. an' Mr. T... pacin' away... Don' worry, love... s'nothing to worry about... Yeh safe 'ere."

"Here with you," Ana whispered, her arm tigthening around her waist. Nellie made a noise.

"Yea... 'ere with me, love." She murmured, her breathing becoming lighter and more relaxed, and Ana could tell she was slipping back into sleep. Ana pulled her brows together and closed her eyes as she lay curled up against Nellie, her cold feet pressed into her warm calves. Instead of the dark, wide eyes of a stunned, opened mouthed Pirelli, Ana could only picture the a malicious, cheshire cat grin glowing in the darkness of her minds eye.


	6. Chapter 6

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism. - AU

**authors note** Again, I'd like to thank you all for your sweet reviews! _Andaere_ - You and your booklet! -shakes fist- Of course, I change some of the lyrics around because I don't want them to be rhymning when they're having a nice casual conversation about chopping up a man and putting him into a meat pie. -snickers- Also, thanks for your kind compliments! I always enjoy getting your review, and getting two in one night just made my day! Thank you so much!

And thanks to everyone else who reviews Girl Anachronism. I know I don't have Anon. Reviews available, but I'll get those up ASAP! So even you leechers can tell me if you like it, hate it, want me to change it? Just no flames, plzkandthankyou.

I had such trouble thinking of what to do for this chapter! Because at the moment there's only been Nellie's obviously noticable one-sided romance with Mr. Todd and I've had a lot of people asking me to make it SweeneyOC, or I guess you can say SweeneyAna. Some even said it should stick to SweeneyLovett, but I just don't know! I guess you'll have to read to find out, wont you? ;

I've been lazy finding lyrics to put on each chapter ( and I've forgotten, too... ) so I'll start having those up on every chapter now rather than every OTHER chapter ( so lazylazy, I know! ).

This chapter is really... well, intense. It shows the darker side of Ana, and of Mr. Todd, and what twisted relationship they have together.

Withouth MUCH further ado, haha, here's chapter six!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter six**Johanna

_I am the tower around which you orbited_

_I am not proud i am just taking orders_

_I fall to the groud within moments of impact_

_**I hit back if hit**_

_**And attack if attacked**_

Toby really was a joy. Ana had never had a younger sibling and with the way the child bound behind her all through the palor and shop she would have thought he'd taken a liking to her! Toby had followed her since the moment she stepped out of the bedroom after Nellie had dragged her out of the bed, claiming there was work to be done. Always work to be done. Toby was very childlike in his nature, talking for the sake of talking as Ana sat with him in the shop, eating at some biscuits that Nellie made for breakfest while said baker retreated upstairs to rouse Mr. Todd with a tray of breakfest for him. He told her of Pirelli and how he'd gotten him from the work house- she cringed at the thought that when she was his age she was still a spoiled little brat -and how just that morning, while Ana had still been in bed, Nellie had offered him a place there and wasn't that just wonderful? Trying to appease the child, but not knowing how, Ana told him that they would have to find another place for him to sleep rather than the couch. To her delight, the boy's face lit up warmly at the thought. But really, the boy was delightful company.

As it were, Mr. Todd, who had stayed up very late into the night after Ana had retreated with her cold feet back to bed, had found a way to rig the floor behind the barber's chair to drop to the bakehouse below. Nellie had sent Toby away to get some toffees from the sweet shop around the corner and to spread the word of the grand reopening of Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Emporium. "Business is gonna be good," Nellie had said to Ana after the boy had run off elatedly. "What with the new meat that's gonna be coming." Not long after, Mr. Todd had come almsot running down the stairs in excitement- of course, a dull, dark sort of excitement -and bade the two of them to follow him up the stairs. How Mr. Todd had gotten the trap door to get down to the basement was beyond Ana, but it wouldn't be until later that she figured out it was just a stroke of luck he didn't make the door go straight through the shop or parlor! The barber had proudly shown off his chair before his first customer had come knocking and he sent Ana and Nellie away quite moodily.

Ana had watched the stairs anxiously as she helped Nellie make the pie crusts, but the man hadn't come back down. She knew he wouldn't. But something ached inside of her- that damn conscience.

It was midmorning when Toby returned bearing treaties and a batch of pie crusts were ready to be filled and cooked. "Take these down to the bakehouse, love," Nellie crooned. "Fill 'em and pop in the oven for me, would yeh?"

Mind, pulsing, Ana glanced to the ceiling. Mr. Todd paced up there, the sound of his foot falls heavy on the floor. She stood from her stool and took the tray. Toby had already captured Nellie's attention again by the time Ana made it to the side door, her stomach churning at the thought of going down into the bakehouse by herself. She was halfway down the cellar stairs when the heat hit her- it seeped out from under the large bake house doors, looking like a high security vault to a bank rather than a place to cook some pies. He stomach flipped over itself, trying to force the biscuits back up her throat. She would never understand how Nellie and Mr. Todd could be so enthusiastic about this little plan of theirs. It did a wonder for the guilt Ana never thought she could feel. She wondered how many times she would end up getting sick in the middle of the night? Of course, never would back out, for warm, motherly Nellie made this seem not so bad. How could it if she, warm motherly Nellie, went along with it? Mr. Todd, dark and brooding, had without a doubt captured poor Nellie's heart, and if warm, motherly Nellie trusted him, trusted this crime, this business... who was Ana to listen to her common sense?

Pushing these thoughts away, Ana opened the bakehouse door and stepped inside, balancing the tray against her hip. A crumpled body lay under the closed trap door in the corner. Her heart jumped into her throat at the sight of a pool of blood oozing from the back of the skull, twisted at an odd angle, the wide, open eyes staring right past Ana at the grinder in the middle of the room. The man was portly, Ana could see in the dim light, with shaving cream still lathered all over his face. Ana winced at the thought.

She'd have to cut him up, then. Get the pies in the oven and quickly cut him up and put him through the grinder. Take the valuables. She hoped she would remember how to take the bones out just as Nellie had showed her. Maybe she could get the woman down to help. Ana stepped towards the large bin below the grinder and set the tray down on the table beside it. Her heart was in her throat and her stomach felt even more sick than before. Out of the mouth of the grinder were strings of meat, wet and bloody. Closing her eyes, she felt her way to the crank, turning the heavy lever a good three spins, listening to the squelching sounds and the plopping of the meat into the basin below the mouth.

Ana pushed the mesh lace sleeves that hung around her wrists up around her elbows and pulled the small table closer to the basin. The meat smelt rank and it was then she realize that this was a _person_. A horrible person, but a person nontheless. And over there, in the corner. A person, with hopes and dreams and a family. A person with a name and a laugh and a bad habit. A person with an eye color and a curious quirk in their smile. Ana's hand raised to her mouth and she turned away from the basin of meat, crouching down on the balls of her feet, pushing the layered skirt of her dress out of the way as she leaned over her knees. Sweat beaded her forehead and her mouth filled with saliva.

"A _person_," she gasped out just before the biscuits came up in a delicious pastey form, splattering the edge of her dress and into a small puddle of liquid- what it was, she didn't want to know. A few dry gags later, Ana took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She could do this, she reasoned. For Nellie. Those pies needed to be cooked. Always work to be done, always work to be done. Ignore the face, always ignore the face. But it was there, burned in her mind. A person. A person. A _person_.

She held her hair back out of her face as bile spilled from her lips onto the floor, her eyes twisted shut. For the first time, she felt so afraid and so alone and oh how she just wanted to go _home_. She didn't want to be here anymore, slicing up bodies and cooking them into pies. She wanted to be where things made sense- when you made sense, you didn't chop people up and serve them as dinner to all of London! That wasn't sense! Ana moaned pitifully as a few more dry heaves resulted in a little speckle of bile dripping from her lips. She gripped the sides of her head, her fingers twisted in her hair, eyes screwed shit, stomach churning. She needed something that made sense. She needed to be in a situation that she could control.

Ana couldn't remember the last time she cried- really cried, out of emotion and not pain. It had been years, because her mother never allowed her to cry. Strong young women knew how to control their emotions. She could remember that when she was younger, her mother used to lock her in the closet when she broke a dish, for an hour. A ten cent dish. And if she cried? Another hour. Until she learned not to cry. No, she knew how to take care of herself. So when her eyes glazed over with tears and an odd, shaking sob escaped her, she was so surprised and angry at herself, that she sobbed harder, and she could feel the mans dead eyes watching her from the corner, and she cried harder until she was sitting on her haunches with her knees pulled up to her chest, her face burried into them with her arms around her calves, rocking back and forth and sobbing so hard her body shook. Loud, shaking, paintful, drawn out sobs that hurt her throat with each noise. She cried for herself, stuck there in that world, so scared, so alone, pining for a home that not even Nellie could provide for her, because a home where she wasn't getting screamed at wasn't a home she could control. She cried for her mother, lost without her, and for her father, always much kinder and loving. She cried for the man who's meat was to be used to make the last dozen pies before the second man was put in to join him. And she cried for that man there in the corner. She cried for Nellie, who was so obviously pining after a man with no pity in his heart. She cried for young Toby, so innocent and broken at such an age. And she cried for Mr. Todd, up there, pacing away his wrongs, longing for his Johanna, for revenge, for his dead wife, Lucy was her name? She cried for him. Her nose was running and snot was on her lip, tears staining her cheeks. Ana wasn't sure how long she sat there, sobbing so hard like that, curling further into herself, holding tighter, rocking in more sharp, jerking movements. Sobbing.

Suddenly, rough hands grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently. She could hear, faintly in the background of her sobs, someone calling her name. She kept her head bowed into her knees as the rough hands gripped her and shook her sharply. Hard fingers dug into the skin under the sleeves of her dress. They were calling her name, over and over. Shouting it at her. Her sobs quivered in her throat.

_Stop,_ she thought venomously as the grip on her arms got tighter, the shaking getting hard. _Ana!_ the gruff voice shouted at her. _Ana, stop this NOW!_

_Stop!_ she thought again.

_ANA!_ The voice screamed.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Ana screamed, throwing her head up to come face to face with a pale, vicious Mr. Todd. His face was screwed up into a look of unsure anger, his eyes wide with fury and rage and yet there was a quiver in his brow- worry? Her cheeks were stained with tears, and her face probably blotchy and red from her crying. Snot was dried to her lip. Bruises were forming on her legs from where her hands gripped her legs so tightly. His nose was so close that it was almost brushing hers, and his face didn't change from the anger- in fact it grew more furious when she had screamed at him. They were panting in time with each others angry breath. His eyes were brown, she noticed. Dark brown, almost black, but she could see the warm flecks of golden honey that had once resided in there, alight with the anger and fury that she had inflicted in him. The power she got from causing that in him- that _anger_ -was the same reason she acted out so much to her mother. To cause such a refined woman to break and hit her- _hit_ her! -was such a powerful feeling.

"Let go of me," Ana whispered softly, afraid of what she looked like to him. Wild? Crazy? But he didn't release her. In fact, his hands tightened and his lip curled back in a snarl, ready to deliver some stinging barbed verbal blow.

"LET GO OF ME!" She screamed again, causing him to pull his face back in the smallest bit of surprise.

"Get up," he hissed, forcing her to her shakey feet. He hoisted her by her shoulders and she slumped against him for a half a second, unable to stable her feet. Ana's anger flared and she jerked and twisted and faught and suddenly she was crying again, sobbing and jerking against him. How must she look to him, now? Wild? Crazy? Ready to throw herself, or better yet him, into the furnace over there?

He handled her roughly, not at all like a woman, forcing her forward towards the door of the bakehouse that was closed from his entry. He released one hand to open the door, and the one that held her arm tightened. Ana realized she was no longer fighting him, but instead just whimpering with each movement, trying to catch her breath, airless sobs shaking her body. He forced her up the stairs. Out of her teary eyes she could see Nellie at the top of the bakehouse stairs, holding Toby to her side, the boy peering around the side of her skirt.

"Ana?" Nellie squeaked as Mr. Todd forced her up each step, waiting almost patiently for her to get her footing. The ascent to the top seemed to take forever. "Mr. T! Be gentle with 'er, she's jus' a child! Wha' the bloody's goin' on? Ana, darlin'---"

"She's fine," Mr. Todd snarled, shoving Nellie out of his way, Toby stumbling back. Ana wanted to scream at him not to touch Nellie, not to touch her, or anyone, ever ever again, but she was being marched through the empty shop by one very unhappy barber. Through the parlor, she finally realized he was taking her to the bedroom. He slammed the door shut behind them, and placed both hands on her shoulders and buckled her knees until her butt hit the old matress.

He released her for the first time since he entered the backhouse then, holding his hands aloft daintily, staring at her with his eyes with a slight squint, quirky and dangerous. Ana looked up at him, her brows tugging together in an expression she knew looked pitiful. She raised one shaking hand to her lips and a soft sob escaped.

"Stay 'ere until you can..." Mr. Todd looked uncomfortable through her blurry eyes. "Don't want you givin' Mrs. Lovett a fright, now, do we?" He motioned to the bed. "Lay down, there... "

Ana didn't move to lay. Her eyes twisted shut again and she drew her legs up to her chest, arms tight around them. Suddenly, those strong hands, much more gentle than before, untwisted her arms and slapped her knees under her legs straigtened out. She looked up at him, her eyes watery, Mr. Todd leaning over her. "Don't do that," he said quietly. "It makes you feel alone." He looked down, away from her, face still looking angry, but the crinkle in his brow- worry? -deepened. "You're not alone. Now lay down, there. Yeh didn't get a wink of sleep last night." He pushed on her shoulders until she was laying. Ana jerked away from him, to the wall side of the bed, and turned her back to him, face burried into the pillow. She didn't get time to whimper before she listened to the door slam with an angry vigor as the man left the room.

Ana didn't awake too much later. No, it had to just be high afternoon when Ana jerked out of her fitful nightmares. Her face was beaded and wet and she felt stiff and noticed she was still in her dress, shoes and everything. Her mind reeled back, and a sudden guilt weighed on her- how innappropriate she'd been acting, letting herself subcome to the emotions that dared plague her. She must've come off as so instable! She remembered yelling at Mr. Todd, screaming at him, forbidding him to touch her. She could remember the _rage_ at his stupidity of doing just that. She hadn't been truely furious since she got here- Nellie numbed everything, like a good mother should, and her relationship with the woman and the man above hadn't been anything deeper than a friendship, and for the latter more of a partnership, a silent agreement of sorts.

Ana rolled out of the bed, standing and straighening herself. The small mirror the corner showed her that her hair looked like a haystack, and she tried to smooth it by jerking her fingers through the tangled mess, but of course a few strands broke off in her hands. She hadn't time to wash it properly in a while- the hot water in the bath didn't last long and she didn't have time to induldge, just enough time to scrub the dirt and flour and oils from her skin. Peering closer, she noticed her cheeks were bright red, one slightly more than the other as it had been the cheek she had been sleeping on. Her eyes were red and puffy and dark circles were beginning to form hollow bruises around the bright green orbs. Salty tear tracks were crusted on her cheeks, but that was remedied with her tongue, her thumb, and some gentle scrubbing away.

Decided that once the last strand was hanging ratherly limply in place, Ana turned and opened the parlor door, peering out into the bright sunlight that pooled in through the windows. She could hear Nellie talking loudly from the shop around the corner, and the quiet murmur of other people. Customers?!

Ana walked as quickly as she could without making herself look any more flustered, the guilt returning and a sheepish look fell across her face as she rounded the corner of the shop. Nellie was talking to a young man with his wife and their young girl, who was peering at Toby, swinging from side to side. Toby peeked out from around the counter, one hand clutching the skirt of Nellie's dress.

Nellie suddenly looked up and slapped a hand into the flour. "There yeh are, darlin'!" She crooned, turning half way to wave goodbye to the man and his wafe, who pulled their daughter away from watching Toby mischeviously. The boy in question finally came out from around the counter and plopped himself into the booth.

Nellie smoothed Ana's cheeks and hair, pulling her close to her. Suddenly, her boney, thin arms were wrapped around her and Ana found herself hugging her back. "I was so worried about yeh," Nellie murmured, holding her back by her shoulders. "I should'a known betteh..." She bite her lip and glanced at Toby, who was staring at the table top absently, then back to her. "Well... I just should'a known betteh."

"It's fine, Nellie," Ana said quietly, touching the older woman's cheek. "Really. I just..."

Nellie smiled and shook her head. "Yeh'll be workin' up 'ere from now on, love. No questions about it." She called over her shoulder. "Would yeh like that, Toby, if Ana worked up 'ere with yeh?"

The boy raised his head and a bright smile came over his face. "Yeah! Are you ok, Ana?" He had a cautious, worried look masking that smile.

"Just fine, Toby," Ana assured him, looking back to Nellie. "Is he angry with me?" she questioned. An angry Mr. Todd was not a good Mr. Todd. The fresh bruised skin on her arms was proof of that. Nellie glanced upward at the ceiling. She bit her lip lightly.

"Angry? With you? No, I don't think so. 'E 'eard you down there, screamin' yeh head off. Came runnin' down an' said, 'Somethin's wrong with Ana' and went runnin' down to the bakehouse." Nellie pressed a hand to her forehead, sighing. "Thought yeh caught yeh death down there. Gave me such a fright..."

Ana grabbed her hands and squeezed them. "I'm sorry, Nells. I'm ok. I swear."

Nellie nodded softly, pulling her arm around her shoulder. What a lady, her Nellie was. "We'll talk about it later, you and I." She said sternly. Ana smiled weakly.

"I need to go apologise to Mr. Todd," she said, pulling away from the warm baker. Nellie shook her head.

"He never said 'e was angry with you," she said softly. "But yeh'd never know if yeh didn't ask. Go on up, but then come right down an' 'elp Toby clean up, I 'ave a feeling the dinn'a rush is gonna be big." Ana nodded before she turned and started up the stairs out of the court door. Her ascent was slow, her steps heavy. She felt that she was walking that final mile. her stomach felt sicka ll over agian and she was thankful that nothing was left in her stomach. T he door at the top of the stairs seemed so foreboding and dangerous because behind it was a man she was certain was very upset with her. She could remember the rage brunign in his eyes, the black, the flecks of warm gold. He hadn't been happy. Each step brought her closer to her maker as she climbed the stairs. She needed to apologise for yelling at him. For screaming and for breaking down in the bakehouse. She felt angry at herself, a rush of rage warming her core by the time she reached the landing. If she had cried like that back home she had no doubt her mother would have gone the nostaligic route and thrown her in the closet again. It had been the safest place to be, that closet. Learned a lot from that closet, she did. Taught her how to be strong, that closet did. Ana peered at the door before rapping her knuckles against the glass. There was no response, but Ana was familiar with that. So, without daring to think of the consequences, she pushed open the door, letting it swing open, peering into the tiny flat.

Mr. Todd was sitting in his chair, polishing one of his beautiful, silver razors. He didn't look up at her, but his eyes shifted just slight before focusing on his work. The tension rose with each shaky step she took into the shop. Swallowing thickly, Ana stopped a good half a yard away from the man, peering at him in silence.

"Mr. Todd," Ana finally spoke up. "I---"

"---should have known your limits, Ana," Mr. Todd cut her off and spoke over her appology. "You haven't felt the bitter weight of the world just yet, Ana. You still have your conscience, today proved it. You still have your guilt. You're angry, but not filled with rage, Ana. Mrs. Lovett and I, we have nothing. Nothing to lose, you see. Our place in Hell is reserved for us when our day comes. But you- you're still so young. You're not weak for what happened this morning, Ana. You're not meant to be quicked, or evil. You are innocent, Ana. Stay that way. In a world where there is so much sickness and hate and death, where nobody, not even I, can live in peace, then maybe you are better off. Responsiblites are what makes meanness, what makes bitterness, Ana. Bitterness changes you. Meanness changes you. Sitting down there in the bakehouse doing what you do will take away that innocence you have and replace it with feelings no one should ever know. It'll be years before you even see a slimmer of light again. You do not want to feel like that. You don't know what such feelings would do to you. Stay the way you are, Ana, stay innocent, and be happy that's what God made you."

Silence.

Ana's mouth dropped open just slight. Those had been the most words she'd ever heard him say in a row towards her with out having to force conversation. She watched him, never looking at her, but instead cleaning his razor, rubbing the cloth raw against the silver. She wasn't sure how to feel. Angry, perhaps, but she couldn't work up the rage. Mostly she felt hurt and abandoned and weak. Mr. Todd didn't even bother to look at her. He wasn't insulting her, no, but then why did it feel like it? She looked off to the side, her brows pulling together. Her mouth felt too dry, but she finally managed to choke out what she'd come up there to do.

"I didn't... ask for your opinion, Mr Todd... I came up here to appologise, for my behavior. For screaming at you. I didn't mean to---"

"---to react as expected?" Mr. Todd spoke oever he again. Ana's lip pulled back in an annoyed grimace. "This life isn't for you, Ana. Do yourself a favor. Forget our faces and---"

"And do what?" Ana asked loudly, feeling herself getting angry at him- or maybe just more hurt. "Go away? Mr. Todd!" Ana found herself infront of him, her hands on the arms of the cahir,s taring down at him. He looked up at her with a calm expression. She wanted to wipe it off his face. "I have no where _to_ go! I have no way to get home, I don't even know where home _is_! I don't belong here but here is all I have. Forget your face, Mr. Todd? Is that what you want me to do? Forget Nellie, and everything she's done for me? What, Mr. Todd, what do you want me to do?"

There was another lengthy silence as he surveyed Ana, his eyes dark and calm. For a while, enither said anything more. The way he just let her sit and brew. He pushed away from the chair and clenched her fists tight, pressing them into her stomach.

"Mr. Todd," she whispered. "I have nothing left."

The barber raised from his chair, slowly, and moved towards the window. Ana watched him from where she stood. He gazed through the grass, his eyes tight, body tense. Why was she even fighting so hard against him? It would do no difference. Finally, he turned to look at her and his face was ahrd and almost vicious looking. He stalked towards her, raising one gnarled hand, as if to grab her arm as he had so many times before. Instead, he gripped her shoulder in a touch that wasnt gentle, for him. His brows quivered slightly before he turne dher by the shoulders gently towards the door. He gave her a little shove in the back.

"Then I suggest, Ana, that you kill the conscience that caused today's scene." He almost whispered. "Because you don't know what such feelings would do to you." ANother shove in the back caused Ana to stumple through the door, onto the landing where the sunlight, out for the moment, kissed her cheeks. She took a deep breath, smoothed her hair, and stepped down the stairs, feeling a whole new weight on her chest. When she reached the bottom stair, she could see Nellie int he shop, talking with young Toby. They both looked up when she entered the shop.

"Well?" Nellie questioned lightly. Ana shrugged her shoulders.

"He didn't really say much," she answered in a quiet voice. "Never really says much."

"Mr. Todd!"

"What now?" Nellie snapped under her breath as Antony swung very clumsily into the meat shop, looking flustered and upset.

"Is 'e free?" the body asked gaspingly. Nellie nodded.

"Go on up, son."

"Thank you, m'am! Thank you!" he said as he ran around the side, his footsteps pounding on the stairs. Ana sighed and excused herself from the house completely, claiming she needed to walk and clear her head.

"Be back by supper time, love!" Nellie called after her. So loving, so mother. It really was a shame she was a willing accomplice to a devious murder scheme. And then again, so was she... Ana wasn't sure where she was going, for she had only been out a handful of times to the market with Nellie. But she made mental notes to help her find her way back should she really wander too far. People were crawling the streets. But all people with faces and names and jobs and places to go. Why it bothered her so much, she didn't know. But as Mr. Todd had said, it was best that the little voice that told her right from wrong met a gruesome, untimely demise. Never again would Ana find comfort int he shaking, shuddery sobs. It seemed a lifetime away now, even if it hadn't even been a few hours before.

The surroundings began to get less and less familar to the girl as she walked further and further away from Fleet Street. Clouds moved over the sun and everything seemed much darker now. She wondered idly if Mr. Todd saw the world like that all the time? Or was he always seeing red? She couldn't picture him with a vision for much else.

When the first drop of rain touched her nose, she tried to ignore it. Her eyes focused on her feet, watching the cobblestones begin to darken in speckled spots as the rain started coming down in dollops, wetting her ecposed skin and dress. There weren't many people walking the streets when she looked back up and the few who were, held their jackets over their heads, to keep dry. She sighed quite heavily and gave up on her walk- the afternoon shower had forced her to find a small alcove to stand under, shivering like a half-wet puppy. She wasn't sure how long had stood there, peering into the wet world, contemplating hitching up her skirt and making a run in the direciton she had come, before an angel came out of the mouth of an alley way. With his shoulders hunched and his hair plastered to his cheeks, Antony spotted her where she stood under an over hang. First, surprised coated his features before he came sprinting across the cobblestones, already shrugging out of his jacket.

"Miss Ana?" he questioned. "What are you doing 'ere?" He looked genuinely concerned! He held his jacket as an umbrella over the two of them. Ana couldn't help but smile.

"I came out for a walk, got caught in the rain, and now it seems I can't seem to find my way back." Ana said lightly, stepping closer to the boy as he spread the jacket over their heads.

"I'll escort you home, then, Miss Ana," he said. "The least I could do for a friend of Mr. Todd's."

Ana snorted as they began walking, close together, with Antony holding the jacket over their heads. "We aren't what you would call friends, sir." She told him. When she saw he was about to respond, she talked boistriously over him. "Have you any news of the girl? Johanna?"

This was a topic he was obviously well educated on. "Yes!" He said excitedly. "The Judge put 'er away... 'e somehow found about our eloping... She's in Fogg's Asylum." His voice dropped. "Mr. Todd 'as come up with a plan- genious man 'e is. 'E's 'aving me set meself up 'as a wig makers apprentice. They get their hair from the mad houses, you know. I'll take 'er away, and bring 'er 'ere, an' then we'll be free from this place."

Ana nodded softly. "I can hide her in my and Nellie's room," she said, trying to be helpful. "It'll be safer than in the shop. Just until you can find a way to get the two of you safely away."

Antony forgot that he was keeping them dry with his jacket, and dropped his arms, wrapping them around Ana and squishing her to his frame, still walking awkwardly forward. "Oh, Miss Ana, you're a real lady!"

Ana squeaked and clawed him off her as they came around a corner, in sight of the shop. "Off, off!" She hissed, shoving him away. The boy looked at her sheepishly, before giving a clumsy bow.

"A thousand times thanks!" He said excitedly. "I will return here to discuss things tomorrow, yes? Around midday? Good!" He didn't give her a chance and just crushed her in another hug, before bounding away. Ana, disoriented, nodded after him before wandering into the shop just as the ran began to lighten up. Nellie peeked around from the parlor door.

"There you are!" She said brightly, obviously having a list of chores that needed to be done.

The dinner rush came around seven in the evening. It wasn't as bad as Ana anticipated. Men went up to Mr. Todd's shop and every third man didn't come back down- but no one noticed, why would they? People were coming and going, in and our, sitting and eating, meandering up to get a shave and coming down- except for every third man. When it was all done and over with, Ana washed dishes with Mrs. Lovett late into the night until they were finished cleaning. They peeled off the many layered dresses and crawled sleepily into bed. Ana again let the woman wrap her arm around her shoulders and hold her to her.

For the first time, Ana let the sound of Mr. Todd's pacing lull her to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** So, what up my faithful reveiwers? I'm not sure how many times I'm going to chage this chapter before I post it... Something about the original draft just doesn't flow right for me, but we'll see, we'll see. In awesome news, I got the lead singer of Four Letter Lie to sign my hand last night at their concert at the Warehouse. It was pretty freakin' cool. Had a lot of fun, then we to go see the last showing of Sweeney Todd at the theatre down town that takes all the movies from the big theatres and plays them at obscene hours of the night / afternoon four like, three bucks.

Pretty cool.

Anyway, without further ado ( yeah right! ) here is chapter seven.

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

p.s; just finished this stupid chapter. lots of spelling mistakes. i'm none too happy with it... just review.

--

**chapter seven** Alms! Alms!

_I picked up the pieces of my broken ego_

_I have finally made my peace, as far as you and me go_

_But i'd love to have you up to see the place_

_**& i'd like to do more than survive**_

_**i'd like to rub it in your face**_

Ana didn't go back down to the bakehouse.

Nellie put her in charge of serving the pies and taking the tips, a job Ana found much more suitable, when you got right down to it. Toby was a hard worker, trailing behind her and serving ale, greeting customers at the door and what not when he wasn't doing that. Mr. Todd, when not with a customer or victim, stood out on the landing and watched the chaotic, if not somewhat rhythmatic, scene of dinner rush below. Ana even liked to fancy that Mr. Todd watched over her as she ran to and fro from tables, taking pennies and dropping pies. But it was more of a possiblity that he was looking for his next victim rather than her clumsy progress at being a hostess. Nonetheless, when Mr. Todd stood out on the landing, Ana felt a relaxed calm as the cold-hearted man watched over them.

It was a hot night as Ana flounced through the outdoor court, a tray of pies balanced on her hands. She wore a pretty dress that fit her body better than any of Nellie's dresses. The baker had gotten it for her, claiming that ana would be able to lure in young men who would go up for a share better than she ever could. The corset was tighter, pushing up her breasts, making them look fuller than they really were. The fabric was black, the midsection a dark, auburn color, the sleeves cutting off at her shoulders. A pair fo mesh gloves donned her hands and under the skirt of the dress she wore a pair of heels that Nellie had found for her. Unable to disappoint, warm, motherly Nellie, Ana wore them.

"Toby!" Ana called as she sat the tray of pies down on a table, taking the coins from the customers and tucking them into her bodice.

"Coming!" the young boy called from the other side of the court.

"Ale there!" Ana told him, nodding at some empty, waiting glasses for the customers. Two ment stared at her in a way that made her skin crawl.

"Right, m'am!" Toby crowed, grabbing a pitcher of ale and bounding towards her. She smiled at the boy, ruffling his hair before turning and slipping back inside the shop. She took a seat on the stool behind the counter, watching the people inside eat and chatter. She wondered in the abck of her mind how many people were eating a friend or family member, lost and forgotten. Those thoughts were getting easier to stomach- it was sick, really. But those thoughts also wouldn't help her any- no, not at all. So she pushed them out of her mind and stood from her stool. She heard Nellie calling her from the court door way.

"Ana!" she sounded upset. Ana gave her a curious look as she rounded the corner. "Throw the old woman out!" The baker demanded, one finger pointing towards the main door fot hes hop where a tired, haggard looking woman stood. Her dress was messy, dirty and ripped and a bonnet covered her head, tangled, damaged blonde hair hang in her face. One of the beggers wandering the street. Trying to be sneaky about it when Nellie turned away- for her temper was unforgiving -Ana grabbed a pie off the counter, ignoring the way it burnt her fingers, and started towards the woman who had a sort of lost determination on her shadowed face.

"Hey!" Ana said sharply, grabbing the begger by the arm and hauling her from the shop. The woman began speaking in fast murmurs and pulled her around the side of thes hop and leaned down. "Here, Lady," she said. "You hungry? Take this and get, ok?" She held the hot pie in one hand.

The old woman looked up at her and Ana could see she wasn't really that old. The world has just taken a turn for the worst with her- pale, pretty skin was dirty and marred and her hair was broken and stringy, probably a once pretty blonde. She hunched over in an odd stance, holding her arms close to her. Her blue eyes were milky and clouded over when she looked up at her. Ana's brow furrowed. "Here," she went on, holding out the slightly burnt pie. "Take this."

The woman cringed away from it, shaking her head. "The devil's wife 'as made those, don't you know? Tha' woman yeh workin' for, she's the devil's wife! Smoke from the bowels of 'ell! Oh, the smell, the smell!" The woman's shaky hands clawed at her own face. Ana took a jerking step back. The woman shuddered away from the pie she held in her hands.

"What's all that nonsense?" Ana hissed. "Nellie Lovett is a real lady! She ain't the devil's wife!"

"An' the man upstairs!" the woman went on, moaning pathetically. "They got up but they don't come down! 'E's the devil 'imself, 'e is!"

"Hush!" Ana scolded, fear striking her. What if this woman went right to the law? But then again, who would listen to a begger woman? No one, no. "There's a second staircase upstairs that leads right into the parlor! They come down, all right."

"Child!" The woman begged. "There, there! Look up there! Didn't I tell you, smell that air! City on fire!" Ana glanced upwards. She could see the edge of the large window that gazed into Mr. Todd's shop.

"Here," Ana snapped, getting irritated with the woman. She shoved the hot pie into her hands and watched the begger look down with wide eyes. "Now go one and get out of here, lady. There's not devil here. So leave us in peace."

_In a world where there is so much sickness and pain and death, where no one can live in peace, then maybe you're better off._

"Sign of the devil!" the woman moaned. Ana gave a heavy sigh and grabbed the woman roughly by the arm.

"What's your name, miss?" she asked. The woman thought for a minute, as if she couldn't quite recall.

"'E used to call me Lucy. That must be me. Lucy." The begger muttered. Ana's blood ran cold for a half a second. No, she thoguht quickly. Lucy was dead. Nellie had told her so. This was just a coinidence. Ana nodded.

"Lucy is a pretty name," she reasoned.

"Ben used to think so. They took me Ben away from me," Lucy stammered, her crazed murmurings. Ana's lip curled back.

_Benjamin Barker, 'is name was._

Ana's brown furrowed and she took a decided step back away from the begger. If she could grab Nellie, perhaps that woman could make sense of this. She wanted to believe that the woman was just a crazy begger who adopted the name. Lucy was dead, Nellie had said it herself. Not that Ana knew much of anything on that matter. Johanna would be here in a few days and Mr. Todd would have his daughter back. And then, maybe, they would all leave this place together- she, and Nellie, and Mr. Todd, Johanna, Antony, and even little Toby. Nellie said so, more often than not since the sailor's last visit. The woman had to be someone else. She was so queer, her mind gone to next to nothing. It almost scared her.

"Lucy Barker?" Ana asked, praying the woman would say no. _Just say no_. The woman's blue eyes widened and she nodded in quick, jerking movements. Ana's breath came out in a defeated huff.

"Will you wait here, Lucy?" she asked, feeling the tiredness in her voice. "Will you wait for me right here?"

The woman nodded her head and stuck her finger in her mouth, chewing on her nail. Ana stood and ran quickly back into the shop. It was just as busy, if not more, than when she left. Nellie spotted her and she knew she wa in trouble for running off like that. "Ana!" The baker said. "Where 'ave you been? Did you chase that dirty begger off? No matter, 'ere, take these out to the customers, would yeh, love?"

Ana set the tray that had been shoved into her hands down. "Nellie," she said. "Listen, you need to come out here, the lady---"

"You want me to slit yeh throat meself?" Nellie threatened. She looked so stressed. Ana almost wanted to give in and forget the woman, but her last bit of remaining conscience wouldn't let her. Ana glanced around before taking Nellie by the hand.

"It'll just be a moment," Ana promised. "And then I'm yours to work until my bones drop, I swear."

Nellie sighed heavily but allowed Ana to lead her around the corner of the building. Lucy stood there, quivering and buttering under her breath. nellie wheeled back a half step as soon as she saw her. Ana pulled her forward. The begger- Lucy! -let out a loud noise.

"Devil's wife!" Lucy screeched.

"No, no!" Ana begged. "Nellie, she says she's Lucy. Lucy Barker, Nells! Mr. Todd's---"

"Shoo!" Nellie hissed at Lucy, whipping her wash rag at the woman. She stomped her foot sharply. "Get out of 'ere, yeh dirty whore! Take yeh dirty business else where!" Lucy's blue eyes seemed to glaze over as she cowered back from Nellie, milky and lost, moving away. Ana frowned. Lucy wandered down the allye, chases away by Nellie's constant shooing.

"Alms!" the begger moaned pitifully. "Alms, alms! For a miserable woman!"

Ana slapped the other woman on the arm.

"What'd you go and do that for?" Ana snapped.

"Dirty beggers," Nellie huffed softly.

"She said 'er name was Lucy Barker!" Ana said. Nellie slapped a hand over her mouth. Ana's eyes grew wide as Nellie leaned closer, speaking low.

"See 'ere, love- if our Mr. Todd knew who that woman was it would kill 'im from the inside out. She's not 'is Lucy anymore, Ana, and she's as good as dead. An' you best be lettin' 'him keep thinkin' tha'." Nellie moved her hand away from Ana's mouth. "You understand?"

"You lied?" Ana hissed. "To _him?!_"

"To him? No, no not lied, at all. No, I never lied. Said she took a poison she did, never said that she died. Poor thing," Nellie sighed, turning away. "Let's get back to work, dear. No use wasting anymore time."

Ana stood around the side of the shop for a short few minutes before finally returning to work. It made no sense to her at first, but then as she got more into her business, carrying pies and ale and peenies, as her mind slowly began to shut down with seeping exhaustian, it made plenty of sense why Nellie kept Lucy's life away from Mr. Todd. She was obviously a shell of her former self. A begger, living on the streets and doing God only knew what for money, lifting her skirts and what not. Why would Mr. Todd need to know such things, her tired mind reasoned as she cleaned up the dishes and wiped down the tables, silent alongside Toby. Better he lived with them, with his Johanna. He would have her soon. Maybe that would warm him. Not a new Mr. Todd. But perhaps a warmer Mr. Todd.

Nellie was only a little upset with her by the time they crawled into bed.

"Was Lucy once beautiful?" Ana asked as they lay, backs facing each other. Nellie turned over to lay upon her back. Ana turned, greatfully snuggling against the older woman.

"Aye..." Nellie said softly. "She 'ad beautiful golden hair, and pale skin. Big, blue eyes. Soft voice. Ben always bought her the prettiest things like clothes and jewels. She always 'ad a flower in 'er hair." Nellie sighed. Ana stared up at the ceiling in silence. She could see the begger woman in her head- that wasn't the beautiful Lucy Nellie had described.

"Why don't you tell him?" Ana questioned. Nellie gave another sigh.

"I told yeh- it would kill 'im inside. 'Is beautiful Lucy turned into that dirty begger. 'E taken enough, yeh see... 'e don't need no more. Now, no more on this subject either. I thought maybe yeh could use some fresh air... packed a picnic and I ever got Mr. Todd to agree to it. So you hush up and sleep now. We'll go out early to the park, 'ow's that sound?"

Ana felt her heart swell at Nellie's geture. She'd never been on a picnic and the thought of going made her feel a giddy excitement. Nellie had done so much for her. The only way she could think of repaying her was to do exactly as she said- and keep her big mouth shut about Lucy.

"It sounds perfect, Nells," Ana murmured softly.

"Good... now sleep, and you best forget all about Lucy. If Mr. Todd knew, it would be the death of us both."

--

"Mr. T!" Ana sing-songed as she flounced up the stairs. It was early morning, the sun not at it's highest yet, but it was warm and muggy out, a few clouds breaking the bluish grey sky. It was a perfect day for a picnic! Warm and as bright as London was going to get. Nellie had packed a delicious picnic and Toby had walked down to the market himself and bought a kite for just a few pennies- another thing Ana had never done and was excited to try. Nellie had sent her up to retrieve Mr. Todd now. She could see his door was propped open and she swung herself into the shop with a flourish. "Mr. T, we're ready to go!" The man was sitting in his chair, flipping open and closed one of his razors, a pair of suspender visibly hooked over his shoulders, his vest laying somewhere in the room- probably waiting to be washed.

"Mr. T," Ana said a bit softer now as she stepped into the shop. Lucy's name ran through her head. She wanted to tell him- that little bit of conscience clinging to her- but she had made a promise to Nellie, and keep her big mouth shut she did. Along with that, the little last bit of conscience was cut- even if she didn't know it yet. "C'mon, we're waitin' on you!"

Mr. Todd turned his head to look at her, his brows pulled together in the middle of his forehead, a curious expression on his face. It looked, to her, for a moment he was going to decline and send her on her way, but instead he stood. Ana smiled brightly and stepped into the room. "Don't look like you're on death row, Mr. Todd, it's just a picnic."

His lip twitched and she thought for a moment he smiled. He placed a hand on the back of her neck- a gesture she was slowly becomming used to -and menuvered her back out of the shop, closing the door behind him. "Ah, but a picnic with the two most insufferable women in all of London," he said shortly.

Ana was surprised by her own laughter. She thought, for a moment that she felt the same shake Mr. Todd, but when she looked up at him his face was dead pan. The two of them descended the stairs side by side, Mr. Todd's hand still resting ont he appex between her shoulders. HIs fingers were cold but the more they rested on her skin, the warmer they began to feel.

"There you is!" Nellie crooned, stepping out of the shop just as Ana and Mr. Todd reached the bottom of the stairs. To her surprising disappointment, the man removed his hand from the back of her neck. Nellie carried a blue, faded folded blanket and behind her trailed Toby with a picnic basket in one hand and a messy, tangled kite in the other. Ana, trying to be helpful, took the basket from the young boy.

"Thank yeh, m'am!" Toby said, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. She could hear Nellie laughing a few steps behind them. The walk to the park was a delightfully relaxing one, Nellie and Ana chattering loudly the entire way, Toby clinging to her hand as they walked. It rienforced the younger sibling feel to their relationship and she was suddenly very greatful to the boy. Mr. Todd didn't say much, but then again he never did, but he strolled calmly at Mrs. Lovett's side. She wondered how much of a family they looked like- strikingly, surely!

They found a nice large tree under which to lay the blanket- Mr. Todd sat down cross legged promptly and stared off into space, looking completely unamused all of a sudden. Ana watched him out of the corner of her eye as she held the kite for Toby while he unraveled the knotted strings. His skin was so much paler in the light, but she could see a flush in his cheeks, simply from being out of that musty old room of his. He had no expression, but just slightly were his brows pulled together. His wrists rested on his knees and he looked relaxed, but his face held a tenseness.

"Mum!" Toby said to Nellie, who was reclined back beside Mr. Todd. "Will you come fly it wiff me?"

Nellie looked up at the boy and a smile graced her aging, motherly face. Her dress today was of bright blues and whites and she looked so much younger. Ana wore her same black and auburn dress, contrasting the warm surroundings. The two went off a ways to catch the wind, leaving Ana alone with the demon barber of fleet street. She sat down where Nellie had been sitting, leaning back on the heels of her palms, crossing her ankles, her converse sicking out from under the layers of skirt.

The two didn't say anything for a while, Ana staring up at the sky, Mr. Todd staring right ahead at perhaps nothing in particular. "Mr. T..." Ana said thoughtfully. "How long do you 'spect to keep this up? This business? Killin' and cuttin' and bakin' and servin'?"

The man said nothing for a long while and Ana thought perhaps he wasn't going to answer her. But then he made a gruff noise in the back of his throat. "'Owever long it takes," he said quietly, eyes snapping to her. "Why? 'Ad enough 'ave you?"

"Not nessicarily," Ana defended snappishly. "It's just that... well, with your Johanna gonna be here, what with the plan the sailor concocted... Nellie's been talking about going away what with money coming in regular-like..."

Mr. Todd huffed a breath of air. "'As she, now?"

Ana managed to nod. "She does a lot for us two, Nellie does..." she said quietly.

Mr. Todd said nothing this time, so Ana went on. "I'd probably be dead from my fever if she hadn't found me. I've never found the right way to thank her properly." Other than not telling Mr. Todd of his wife, alive and insane. "And she puts up with you, Mr. T, and that's something not even a saint could do."

His lip twitched, causing a smile to strech across her own lips. They sat in another soft silence, this time seeming much more relaxed, as Mr. Todd's shoulders had slumped and his fingers fiddled with a string of grass. Ana watched him with probing eyes. He wasn't human yet, but it was the small things that made it visible to her. It was almost uplifting.

"Mr. T," Ana said with a sigh. "Are you listening to me?"

"Of course," the man responded.

"Then what did I just say?" Ana snapped.

Mr. Todd turned his head to look at her, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, whatever traces of tolerant amusement gone from his face. He was back to his dark self. "There 'as to be a way to the judge..."

Nellie plopped down inbetween Ana and Mr. Todd, looking over her shoulder at Toby, who was flying his kite quite well on his own.

"Judge!" Nellie snapped, obviously catching the last of what the barber had said. "Always harpin' on your bloody old judge. We got a nice respectable business now, us three, Toby too." Her smile was whicked. "And we're careful to pick and chose... people who wont be missed... who's gonna catch on?" The woman was suddenly on her knees and she leaned to swiftly kiss Mr. Todd's cheek. The man didn't look at all caught off gaurd- more like completely unaware of the lips on his face.

"Oh, Mr. Todd..." Nellie sighed. "We could go away, all of us. You know where I'd like to go?" She paused. "Don't you wanna know?"

"Of course," Mr. Todd said automatically. Ana's lips twitched and she shook her head.

"Do you really wanna know?" Nellie pressed. Mr. Todd growled something out of his vocals, and that was enough for the darling baker. "By the sea, Mr. Todd, that's the life I covet... Oh, I know you'd love it... All of us, we could be alone, in a house what we'd almost own..."

"By the sea?" Ana asked curiously, her eyes wide. Another place she'd never been- and now that she thought about it, she led an oddly sheltered life. No picnics, no kite flying, no trips to the beach by the sea. Nellie turned to look at her, eyes bright with happiness. She wrapped one arm around Ana's shoulders and the other around Mr. Todd's.

"Down by the sea, married nice a proper, we could be, you and I, Mr. T. Give our little Ana and Toby a proper family." Nellie went on.

At this point Ana and Mr. Todd both turned their heads a fraction of an inch to meet each other's eyes, then look to Nellie, who looked off so fondly, neither had the heart to break her from her trance. She sighed contently and moved her arms away their shoulders. Ana looked down at her lap. She'd been so lost in this world that she'd completely forgotten about her quest to find a way back home- in fact, she'd almost completely forgotten about how tormented her mother must be without her. She swallowed thickly and looked away, off to the side, where some grass swayed in the gentle breeze.

"Think on it," Nellie said softly, her arms coming around Ana tightly, hugging her close. "You'll come to love the idea, I'm sure." She stood then, going back to Toby. Ana looked over her shoulder, watching the woman walk away and her heart sank. As much as she wanted, she couldn't stay. She needed to find a way, any way, back home. How she was going to do this was beyond her. It was silent between the two, Ana and the barber.

Ana placed her elbows on her thighs and cupped her chin in her hands. "Can I ask you a question, Mr. T?"

"What?" he replied, deadpan, sounding as if he didn't really care one way or the other- she could only guess that he didn't.

"Do you think you'll ever go away... with Nellie... and me... and Toby, and Johanna, and Antony?" She asked. "Do you ever think that we'll really get away from all this, just like Nellie dreams?"

He looked at her now. His face was twisted in what could only be described as pain. Ana swallowed, feeling awfully sorry for him. Was he remembering life with Lucy, she wondered? Or did the thought of being with Nellie in a secluded place by the sea make him sick? She moved closer to him so that they sat so close their knees touched as she crossed her legs. He looked away from her then, staring at his hands in his lap.

"Life is for the alive, Mr. Todd... You could have a life with her," Ana said softly. "Maybe not like she dreams... maybe not like you remember... But you two could get by. With Johanna, and Toby, and Antony... you could get by."

Mr. Todd turned his head a fraction, his eyes narrowed. "And you?" he asked gruffly.

Ana's smile was weak. "I'm hoping I'd find my way home by then," she whispered, ignoring the sinking feeling she got in her stomach. The feeling of belonging she had sitting here beside Mr. Todd, with Nellie behind them teacher Toby to fly a kite properly. She hated the feeling of them being an unconventional family. Because they were- she knew it, Todd knew, even Nellie knew it. And yet at that small moment in time, as they sat together, it's what it felt like. And yet something was off. The feeling of belonging was attributed to more than just Nellie and Todd and Toby, the little brother he was.

No, something was off, but she wouldn't be able to pinpoint that until later, when it would be too late.

Ana reached over and placed her hand on Mr. Todd's arm, squeezing gently. He looked at her again, this time his expression a bit more docile.

"You'll get by," she repeated, ignoring the feeling in her stomach that made her want to wrap her arms around him. It wasn't a smile he gave her, but his eyes crinkled around the edges before he looked away again, staring off into the distance, leaving them both with their quiet thoughts.


	8. Chapter 8

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** Thanks again for your reviews! Last chapter took something out of me- but I'm really excited for this one. This one I liked writing- and also, read it and you'll get to see what pairing this is going to turn out to be. Ana/Sweeney? Todd/Lovett? Who knows?!

I do! Don't forget to review- they really do keep me motivated! No Dresden Doll lyrics this time, either. Nickleback, because I 3 them.

This is a **NAUGHTY** chapter, so young childred ADVERT YOUR EYES. There are **ADULT THEMES** in this chapter.

And you all finally get to know the fecking pairing. Go, review!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter eight** Gillyflowers, maybe. . .

_Believe it or not, everyone have things that they hide_

_Believe it or not, everyone keeps most things inside_

_Believe it or not, everyone, believe in something above_

_**Believe it or not, everyone, needs to feel loved**_

Ana wasn't sure how she found herself sitting up in the dark shop, but there she was. The rest of the picnic had gone swimmingly- she and Toby had even had a race around the park. Mr. Todd didn't crack anything that looked like the shadow of a smile, but Nellie smield enough for the both of them. They'd returned at high afternoon and as Nellie took Toby inside to start getting read for the rush that dinner would be, Ana followed Mr. Todd up to his shop and invited herself down to sit in his chair, her legs curled up to her chest. The barber simply went to pacing, not at all concerned about her presence. That odd feeling hadn't gone away, and Ana couldn't quite pin point what it was anymore, less than before, really. Something inside her stirred, however and it put a weight on her chest. She simply attributed the feeling to her refound desire to return home- or find her way back home, which was looking more and more bleak with each passing day. It should have been enough to make her cry- but she hadn't any tears left.

Green eyes followed the barber back and forth and he paced to and front in front of the slanted window. Ana wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. She could remember in the back of her mind, the man's rough hannds untangling her from within herself. A fleeting moment of... not kindness, but a grief that matched one anothers for a small second. She wondered, vaugely, if she was jsut another vermin to him. She wanted to doubt it, but with Mr. Todd you never really knew what he thought. To ask- to even speak -would surely get her sent away. She figured the only reason he let her sit up there with him after the picnic was because she was keeping her big mouth shut. But they both were- the silence was beginning to get too freaking loud for Ana.

The girl let out a loud sigh and for the first time since they returned from the park, he turned his head to look at her. A snarl fit over his lips appropriately. Ana looked up at him and met his eyes, dark from what she could see. They watched each other for some time.

"What?" he growled. Always with the assuming! Ana gave him a heavy glare and shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing, sir," Ana replied. Mr. Todd grunted.

"Leave me, then," he said montonously. Ana thought it would be a charmingly intellegent idea to do as he said. But it could be quickly deducted that Ana was not a charmingly intellegent girl- in fact, she was rather stupid. For when the barber demanded she leave him, she didn't. She just looked at him with a tired expression on her face. Mr. Todd's moods changed so quickly it was disgusting. It could leave someone very discombobulated. Ana's brows furrowed as she watched him. He was back to looking out the window. When she didn't move, the man turned halfway, grinding out through gritted teeth,

"Get out!" Mr. Todd snarled. He sounded rather angry. Ana chewed the inside of her cheek.

"But I'm not doing anything to bother you!" Ana complained. It was one thing for him to send her out when she hindered his ability to sulk and wallow in his own misery in peace- she would go without complaint. But here she'd been sitting, amazingly non-whiney, quietly enjoying the pacing barber's company.

"I said get out!" Mr. Todd snapped as if she wasn't worth his time.

"Why can't I stay here?" Ana demanded. Mr. Todd's hand came slamming down on the sill of the bay window.

"For what?" he snarled. "Your company? Your company's starting to pester me already! Now, get- out!"

Ana glared right back at him as he gave her a look to kill. Why he was being so unreasonable, she didn't know, but she did know that his reasons would never be spoken aloud.

"No wonder you're always like this," Ana muttered, looking around the room. "You're always up here all alone- and this isn't really the homiest of places. I bet if you put up some flowers- gillyflowers, maybe..."

Mr. Todd growled and stalked towards the chair. "Been spending too much time with the baker, 'ave you?" His grip on her arm surprised her as he hauled her to her feet, waiting politely for her to get her footing before shoving her away from the chair. She stumbled slightly in her effort to turn and land a slap on his arm, yet he was too quick for her and one strong hand grabbed hers, crushing her thin fingers together harshly. His lip curled up in distaste and Ana had a strong urge to wipe it off his face. Instead, she swallowed and snatched her hand away, flexing her fingers from where he crushed them. She could feel her breath quicken, along with her rising temper.

Mr. Todd grabbed her by the arm, as if to start maching her out of hte barber shop- but Ana had made the resolve that if she was going to deal with his ever changing moods and temper tantrums, he was no longer going to handle her like a boy, even if she knew that he knew she could take it. The girl jerked back from him and when he turned his head to deliver one of his infamous barbed verbal blows, her hand came palm first into his cheek, the sound of skin on skin contact sharp. He was only caught off gaurd just slightly, his head turned onyl a fraction of an inch, eyes catching the light in surprise. A red mark burned glaringly on his cheek where Ana had struck him- his eyes flashed dangerously. Before he could release his wrath, however, Ana pressed one sharp finger into his chest.

"Stop that," Ana snarled. "Stop grabbing me, pulling me, fucking handling me like some doll!" She almost turned away from him and fled, for his eyes were narrowed to slits, but isntead went on, laying down the law, hoping to sound final in her descision. "If I'm going to put up with your stupid temper tantrums I'm not going to let you throw me around! So next time you think it's a good idea to drag me around, don't." Her breathing was haggered, and they both stood in rather defensive stances, unnervingly close, Ana raised on her toes to make sure her point was well known. Mr. Todd looked lividly down at her, but then something changed in his expression. It scared her. He looked too calm for her liking.

"And another thing," Ana manged to stutter out. But her progress to bitching was hated as Mr. Todd's hand came up to her cheek, as if to strike her, but his big hand gripped her cheek and hcin, jerking and forcing her to face toward him. He wasn't at all gentle about it, of course she would never expect him to be. His tumb pressed against her lips, hushing her effectively. His grip was harsh and she knew more sharp, striking purple bruises would dot her fair, pale skin. What was it with this man and man-handling her? This really needed to stop and her earlier warning had obviously fallen on deaf ears. His breathing was as heavy as hers, his body towering threateningly over her. HIs fingers flexed, digging into her ashen flesh.

"Quite while you're ahead and shut up," Mr. Todd hissed sharply. "You talk far too much."

She was like gasoline and he was a match- she wasn't really sure if she could handle that. The two stood like that for some time, neither daring to move. Ana could feel her temper ready to break. She knew, in the back of her mind, that the smart idea would be to turn and leave him be just as he demanded, but Ana learned quickly that if she didn't finish something with Mr. Todd, it would brew uncomfortably until it broke. Like a fever. And so they stood, neither daring to move until finally Mr. Todd shoved her away by the face. Her skin burned from the harsh grip and she watched his fingers curl into tight fists. He began to raise one, pausing, momentarily, at hip-level.

"You gonna hit me?" Ana hissed, stupidly, her temper making her blind. No, Mr. Todd was above hitting a lady, despite how he bullied her around. Ana had almost forgotten about the extension of his arm as his hand moved to the leather holister at his hip. That bright silver razor flashed in the light. That was her cue to step back, and she did, as Mr. Todd advanced on her with his razor branished in his hand, held aloft, tauntingly. Ana swallowed thickly as an elated, taunting expression hardened his face. Ana felt her back hit the wall by the door and her breath caught in her throat.

The cool blade chilled her skin as it was smoothed against her throat. Her temper felt to have been slapped from her and her eyes twisted shut, feeling his breath ghost across her forehead, panting in time with her. In. Out. In. Out. The blade pet along her throat, smoothing over the swell of her breast.

"Somet hings you do make you very stupid," Mr. Todd snarled, his tone sounding angry and livid and it was almost enough to scare her. Almost. "Others aggrevating, and some even admirable. But mostly very stupid," he rpessed the blade to the skin of her throat. Ana opened his eyes, flashing green irises meeting cold black pupils.

The match hit the gasoline.

"Kill me, then!" Ana snarled. She only said it because she knew he wouldn't. Mr. Todd had to please a few people to keep up the way he was. This was a partnership and they needed each other, even if he wouldn't admit it out loud. Mr. Todd killed, Nellie took care of the evidence, and Ana kept her big mouth shut, helping Nellie keep all of London oblivious to what was really going on. She supposed he could kill her, silence her for good, if he really wanted, but that didn't mean he would. It also didn't mean Ana didn't piss herself in fear when the man pressed the blade again her throat a bit harder. The two stood for a while, steaming and glaring and wanting ever so badly to break each other down int he worst way. Something in his expression changed in a fraction of a second.

"Let go of me," Ana snarled. He leaned further into her, the blade leaving dents in her flesh. She winced. Taking the risk and slicing her own neck with the movements of her throat, she pressed forward, feeling the skin slice just the slightest as she delivered her verdict.

"Let go of---!!!"

Her words were swallowed by his lips, the sound of the razor clattering to the floor somewhere in the back of her mind. Her neck throbbed where the skin was actually cut. But it was just a flesh wound and would scab over within minutes. His lips were hard and cold and he felt as if he hadn't kissed a woman in such a long time- Ana figured he hadn't. But it was an angry kiss, no feelings, just raw rage. Ana's head felt light and she reached up to grab his hair, pulling so hard that a few strands of black stringy mess broke off in her fingers. She wasn't sure if she was trying to pull him off her, but the way his hand thread through her hair and grabbed the back of her head harshly, she wasn't sure if she physically could. His other hand was hard on her hip, shoving her back against the wall. Ana had kissed few boys in her life and no men. The kiss now was sloppy, Mr. Todd using his teeth mouth than his lips, and she could taste blood in her mouth. Oh, what would her mother say? That particular thought fled with his sharp grip on her waist.

The kiss was angry to begin with- and it only escalated. She trailed her hands from his hair to cup his jaw line. Her nails dug into his flesh as she tried to pry hi moff, but his lips were far too insistive, his fingers gripping the back of her head and her hip. Instead of pushing him away, soon she was holding his head in place, making sure he wouldn't get too far away from her. His hand that cradled the back of her head came smoothing down, molding every curve of her body from her throat to her hip, where he gripped her tightly and pulled her towards him, pressing their bodies together. Not gently, not tenderly- harshly. Bruises would surely form under her dress from how harshly he gripped her. Tears of pain pricked at her eyes when he bit her lip and caused more blood to dribble into her mouth. He growled against her lips and suddenly brushed them bruisingly along her jaw, giving Ana a chance to breath.

"Mr. Todd..." Ana said breathlessly. The man's kisses became less proding and sharp. The anger slowly ebbed away, providing only enough rage to fuel a few moments of mindless indulgence.

"Mr. Todd..." Ana said again, swallowing down her worries. Mr. Todd's lips rested on her throat, but he was no longer kissing, just resting there. Shakily, Ana wrapped her arms around his head, hugging him to her. And they stood like that for a while, panting, sweat prickling at their brows. This was a side of Mr. Todd that scared her the most. A side she was sure Nellie hadn't seen- and that scared her even more. Both of his hands now rested just lightly on her hips and pressed her far back against the wall as allowed. She had to learn on her toes to keep her arms gently wrapped around his head. Her lips felt bruised and raw and her scalp prickled with pain where he had clutched her hair and ripped out a few broken strands. She was even sure bruises dotted her hips and back. It'd all happened so quick and so angry that now Ana felt so out of it now that everything was over, so quickly over.

"I'm sure Nellie needs my help downstairs..." Ana stammered. Mr. Todd pulled away form her all too suddenly for her liking. He looked down at her with a dark expression. He tilted his head, as if regaurding something that disgusted him. Ana's eyes narrowed. Finally, he placed one hand ever so gently on her shoulder and turned her towards the door.

"You mustn't keep Mrs. Lovett waiting, then," Mr. Todd nearly whispered. Ana nodded quietly, making her way towards the door- but it swung open and Antony stood, panting, his face red from obviously running.

"Mr. Todd! Miss Ana, m'am- tomorrow is the night. I'm going tomorrow night. I've already spoken to Mrs. Lovett, and she said- Oh, anyway, I'll have Johanna here by tomorrow's night fall!" Antony finally sputtered out what he was trying to say. Ana turned to look at Mr. Todd- his face had given away to a softer expression. He nodded calmly. Antony's face beamed.

"Miss Ana has agreed to keep Johanna hidden until I return with a coach. She's a real lady!" Antony grabbed Ana's hand and squeezed before looking to Mr. Todd, who had his dark eyes fixed on the girl. "I'll bring her during the dinner rush, if all goes well... Lots of people will make it harder to find her if something goes... wrong."

"Nonsense," Ana said sharply. "Everything is going to go fine. Go, now. I'll make sure everything is ready for tomorrow night, for Johanna."

Antony's smile only faltered a little as he wrapped her up in a tight, painfully greatful hug. He was a great one for the hugs. "Thank yeh, miss!" he said into her hair before stepping back and shaking Mr. Todd's hand vigerously. "Wish me luck, my friend!"

He was gone, then, the sound of his footsteps trumping down the stairs. Ana and Mr. Todd were once again left in silence. She could feel his eyes watching her as she smoothed down the layers of her skirt, avoiding his gaze. Ana was forced to deal with the awkward tension in the room- from Antony's resent repature, from the earlier rage, from the... the kiss. Ana's lips still felt swollen and she was sure her hair was a mess from where he'd grabbed it so roughly in his hands. Mr. Todd moved towards the window, throwing himself into a full blown pace, his fingers clenching and unclenching at his sides. Ana watched him, unsure if she should leave or if he wanted to yell at her some more. Deciding that it was safe to escape to the shop downstairs, she started for the door.

"Send the boy up," was the barber's final call, not caring to face her. Ana glanced over her shoulder.

"Yes, sir," she responded, leaving the parlor door open as she stepped out onto the landing. Toby was in the court, scrubbing down a table. Ana hovered at the bottom stair, watching him for a moment.

"Toby," Ana said softly, taking the final step off and moving towards the shop door. "Mr. Todd needs you."

"Right, m'am!" Toby chirpped, abandoning his table and starting up the stairs. Ana sighed, entering the shop, sliding down onto the stool behind the counter. She was alone for a while, allowed to think on her sins. Just that morning Nellie had been swooning about the sea and a family and marriage. That seemed a life time ago, now. Especially now as the clouds began to cover the sky, leaving a dull, gray glow. Ana's brows furrowed to the middle of her forehead. She jumped out of her skin when Nellie came up from the bakehouse and surpried her with her sudden appearance. Ana swallowed down her yelp of surprise and tried not to look too shame faced.

"There you is!" Nellie said brightly, carrying a tray of pies lightly in two hands. "Thought you was never gonna come down. What was yeh-" Nellie set the tray down and her eyes narrowed slightly. Ana could feel the bruises on her face, galringly obviously to the observant baker. She moved closer and raised a tender hand to tilt Ana's chin slightly. "Thems is nasty," she murmured. Then her eyes hit the now lightl scabbed cut on the middle of her throat. The baker's brown eyes widened and she clenched her teeth, looking fairly unhappy. "Was 'e rough wiv you? Bloody bloke, I'm always tellin' 'im 'e can't be--"

"Nellie- I'm fine, really. We had a bit of a row- I hit myself on his damn chair, and tripped, the cut was an accident, but I'm fine. Really, Nells. It's all coming up roses." Ana assured, taking the kind woman's hand and moving it away from her face. "It was just a little row, I swear."

Ana could feel the guilt lapping at the edges of her heart. It certianly had been one hell of a row... Ana didn't have the heart or the courage to tell the baker what had happened. She had a small feeling that she had betrayed the woman, even if the kiss had been, really, out of raw rage and anger, nothing more- at least Ana hoped -she still felt the crushing guilt. Nellie loved that man up there- why, Ana would never know, he wasn't a nice man, nor was he particularly gentle. Perhaps she, like many other unrequited lovers, was smitten with the memory of what the man had been. Ana closed her eyes as Nellie tenderly looked over the bruises on her chin with a scrutinizing expression.

"We'll 'ave a talk later," Nellie warned. Ana's stomach sank further and she nodded her head. "Good," Nellie agreed. "Now, where's the boy?"

Ana nodded upward. "Mr. Todd sent for him after Antony came up."

A look of recognition lifted the bakers face. "Aye! I almost nearly forgot! Mr. T's Johanna 's gonna be 'ere before the week is out! Oh, he'll be so 'appy..." Nellie smiled warmly. "Go finish cleanin' up them tables, would yeh, love? I've got another two dozen pies to bring up..."

"Of course, Nells," Ana said quickly, jumping from her stool and moving quickly to her task, where Toby's wash rag lay abandoned at the table near by. She scrubbed silently away at the tables as Nellie retreated back down to the bakehouse. Her stomach felt sick with anticipation. Tomorrow would go just fine, she told herself. Antony and Johanna would return right during the height of supper time, when people were so busy they didn't even notice that every third man that went up for a shave never came down. No, to worry would be awfully silly o fher. But still, no matter how hard she scrubbed away at that able, Ana couldn't wash away her mounting, building guy blowing guilt. If anyone would be the death of her, it was sure to be the demon baber of fleet street.

Later that night, much later as Ana lay with her head burried in Nellie's shoulder as the woman slept cozily with one arm wrapped around her, Mr. Todd's pacing started up abruptly. She hadn't been sleeping well, her stomach too sick. She listened for a while, the pacing like a music, all most. He was troubled about something- not just pacing for the sake of waiting until morning. No, something was on his mind, his quick hurried steps back and forth slamming into the floor boards above, making the ceiling creak and rattle, dust flittering down in waves. Taking it upon herself to be the stupidest person alive, Ana quietly extracted herself from Nellie's warm embrace, and padded across the cold wood floor, her unflattering night gown swishing around her ankles. She glanced back at Nellie, making sure the woman slept soundly, before exiting the room.

Sneaking past Toby was a breeze, for the boy drank so much he was passed out on the couch with the blanket half off him, drooling towards the still blazing fire. It warmed her legs as she padded past it. Trying to be sneaky about getting out of the shop, Ana had to reach up on her tip toes and grab the bell above the door as she opened it, making sure it didn't ring _too_ much. But it still jingled just the slightest. Once outside, she went up the steps on nimble bare feet, only stumbling once at the very top. A momentary battle with herself resulted in the reasonable side losing, and Ana pushing open the door ever so lightly, listening to his bell jingle clearly into the night air.

Mr. Todd whirled around to face her, his expression not angry, but more very uncertain, miserable, even. He'd been pacing infront of his window, as per usual. Ana stood in the door way, feeling unnerved as he eyed her, until the man turned away from her, falling into his barber chair with a dramatic flourish, his arms slung over the sides, his razor held limply between his fingers. Ana took it as a sign she was allowed in, and closed the door behind her.

"Wot you doin' up?" the man growled from his chair. "Wot you doin' 'ere?"

Ana hovered by the trunk. "I couldn't sleep," she said, smoothing her fingers over some tearing wall paper. "And I heard you start pacing. Thought I'd come up and see what the matter was."

He didn't say anything. Ana's eyes wandered to the cot, the blankets askew and the pillow freshly crumpled. "Had you been sleeping?" she asked, almost with insulting surprise. "You have a bad dream or summat?"

Mr. Todd laughed a harsh laugh- more like an insulting cackle, really. But he didn't answer her- she decided she'd been far off. She moved closer to him, but kept her eyes over his head, on the window, dark, reflecting back the room. "I couldn't sleep," she repeated. "Every time I closed my eyes I kept seeing my mum. I miss her..." Ana never thought'd she'd admit that, nevertheless say it outloud. "She was a right bitch, but... you know, she's my mum."

Mr. Todd glanced at her wickedly, his face no longer holding amusement. But he wasn't angry, either. Just there. That's all he ever was. Like a rock, stuck in the side of the stream.

Ana's hand rested lightly on the back of the chair as she stood at his side. She looked down at him finally. The question as off her lips before she could stop it- it really hadn't been meant to be said allowed. "Why'd you kiss me?"

His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, but he looked away from her.

"When I know, Ana, I'll surely tell you.." he snarled.

"No need to be hostile, I won't hold it against you," she murmured. "Or to you.. or anything. It's what it was, right? Just a kiss. Nothing more." She pat the back of the chair. "I suppose I'll... maybe suck down some gin. That ought'a get me to sleep."

"No use," Mr. Todd murmured. "The boy drank the last of it. Besides, as it were you need to be at your best tomorrow for Johanna and Antony. We can't have you half drunk."

Ana snorted, but other wise argued nothing against him. She stood in silence there for a while, listening to him breath, staring out into the blackness beyond the window, watching her figure move ever so slightly in the reflective glass. Mr. Todd looked so pale, so pallid, so sad. She looked down at him with an unsually sympathetic expression.

"I'll be going, then," she murmured. When she made to turn, however, his arm snapped out and his hand latched onto her wrist, dragging her back. She thought perhaps he was going to scolde her into keeping her mouth shut about the kiss- which was what she intended to do, of course! -but she moved too far over, and she felt herself being tugged down into the chair. Her butt hit his thighs and his other hand moved around to grasp her legs and haul them over the arm of the chair. She grasped at his shirt in surprise, afraid she was going to topple over his legs, but he held her securely to him, her face pressed into his collar bone. She sat stiffly and awkwardly in his new position. She wasn't one to question Mr. Todd's motives- yeah, right!! -but this was all together too... not him.

"Mr. Todd..." she began, but she felt his hand tighten around her thigh so harshly it hurt.

"You still talk too damn much," he snarled. At this, Ana bit her lip and shut up, resting her head into the appex between shoulder and throat. It was a while before she was able to relax in his arms, and an even longer while before he was able to relax with her in his lap, holding her so awkwardly he felt like he'd never even touched a woman before. Ana noticed the way he would tense when she shifted her face and her breath would ghost over his neck, and soon she began to make a game of it idly to entertain herself.

Finally, after a good ten minutes of her breathing warm air from her nostrils and cold air from her slightly puckered looks on his skin, her entire body lifted and she squealed in surprise as the man carried her across the room in three big strides, and they were both suddenly on the cot, making it creak with the weight, the blankets and quilts Nellie had piled for him fluffing up around them, making a fort of blankets and fluff of sorts.

Ana tensed as she felt the man wrap his arms around her, drawing her to him. She was beyond asking his motivations- as he said, she did talk too much. Instead she let him rest his cheek on the top of her head and closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. Their legs tangled together and they lay mounds of blankets, hidden from view, warmth creeping up Ana's legs. A strong hand, soft as it was, touched her hip and she raised her eyes to look at her dear Mr. Todd- he didn't say a word, just looked away from her, his brows knit together. But that hand stayed on her hip, gently kneading her skin. She was surprised everytime he touched her she wasn't getting a new bruise. He stroked his hand from her hip to the side of her thigh, and suddenly his eyes snapped down to her and they flashed devilishly- she was almost scared to have come up. He hitched her leg around his hip as he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead.

Ana wasn't sure what happened from there- or how it happened, but it just... _did. _ It happened. One moment she was hyperventalating, saying his name over and over and trying to push him off her with weak arms, then next she found that she didn't particularly want him to stop whatever it was he was doing with just his breath along her throat. It was clumsy, of course, as she'd never been with a man, and it was obvious how long it had been since he'd been with a woman. She'd clocked him in the temple with her elbow when he roughly ripped her out of her night gown, and she'd gotten another dark bruise around her stomach when he slammed her back into the cot when she tried to wriggle away again, murmuring about how they shouldn't get into this.

He wouldn't listen, of course. Soon she wasn't bothering to tell him much of anything. She'd just concentrated on how he touched her- roughly, not at all soft like she'd thought she'd always wanted. But firmly, making sure to remember every awkward bump and curve of her body. They didn't kiss. They didn't look at each other. He grabbed her hips and angled them upwards and she bit into his shoulder to stop the screech that threatened to escape her vocals. It wasn't as pleasurable as it was painful. The pain didn't ebb away like she read in the romance stories. But she didn't stop him- she didn't correct him, because she was sure he wouldn't care.

Imagine her surprise when they lay side by side, sweating, Ana wincing in slight discomfort, that his hand disappeared under the covers and brought her to a writing bliss before the night was out.

She fell asleep by his side. Not in his arms, but close enough. It was dangerous, she knew, for Nellie had a habit of waking early and doing her rounds. And if she were to find them the way they were, Ana would risk breaking what had become her best friend's heart. But when she tried to roll out of the cot for the final time before her eyes got to heavy, he simply dragged her back and tossed the blankets over her head with a comical grunt.

Just a few minutes, Ana reasoned with herself. Then she would go regaurdless of his temper tantrums. Just a few minutes.

The night paced peacefully, neither moving from their spots.


	9. Chapter 9

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author **pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note **Awww, you people are completely sweet! Thanks for your kind reviews on chapter eight- I was really hesitant about posting that chapter. Origionally, I had the last chapters take place on the same night, but now I'm streching it out over another three chapters- nine, ten, and the epiloge. Anyway, I was very hesitant about posting chapter eight. I've done MUCH more graphic scenes before, but never for the viewing pleasure of the whole internet, and I was worried about making Mr. Todd act too out of character, but obviously I didn't do too bad of a job. But your respones were kind and I'm glad I managed to keep Mr. Todd in character as far as acting out of character goes. I almost didn't have the erm.. final scene in there, but my darling Finny kept asking ( -blowkiss- ) and well, who am I do deny my writing buddy?

Shall we get on with chapter nine, you silly little buggers? This one takes place during "Not While I'm Around" and a small part of "Final Scene" because uhm, final scene has to be the final chapter, no? Yes.

Let's just get on wiv it!

Wivout further ado, chapter nine!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter nine** Not While I'm Around

_Nothing's gonna harm you, _

_not while I'm around._

_Nothing's gonna harm you, _

_no sir, not while I'm around._

Sleeping together on the small, creaky cot was not a particularly enjoyable experience. Every few minutes they would shift and wake each other. All together, they'd only slept perhaps a solid hour without waking awkwardly to an elbow in the gut or a knee to the groin. Ana had tried to crawl out of the cot for a final time when Mr. Todd had finally fixed their situation by dragging her back to bed and laying her across his chest, her head on his heart, which lulled her back to sleep with it's dragging slow thumps. They both seemed to sleep soundly after that.

The first gray rays of light hadn't even touched the sky yet when Ana was reawakened by an insistive, sharp prodding in her side. Her eyes fluttered open to darkness and sulkily she burried her face into the warm skin of her breathing pillow. She felt him sigh beneath her and another hard prod was delivered to her rib cage. Not at all happy, Ana lifted her head to glare at the shadow that was his face. The candles had long burned out, leaving the upstairs flat completely dark. She reached on hand around and grabbed the nudging hand and tossed it away from her. "Quit it," she snarled.

"Get out, pet," the man said in a quiet tone, an underlying annoyance in his voice. Ana looked around, her hair falling over her shoulders and creating a curtain around their faces. She pulled back her lip in distaste. It was so early. If she stayed very still, she couldn't even ear the morning lark sing.

"MistaT..." she mumbled sleepily, resting her head back on his chest. "S'not even light out yet. S'not even time to move." Ana could feel herself slipping back into sleep yet again when a swooping sensation entered her belly and her back was pressed against the rough cot. Her eyes snapped open and Mr. Todd was hovering over her, a devilish glint probably in his eyes. He growled an animalistic growl, one hand pressing against her hip, the other holding himself up over her. His lips brushed her forehead just barely.

"Get out," Mr. Todd growled, pulling away from her completely. The sudden command was so harsh and rudely spoken that Ana sat up abruptly, smacking her forehead against Mr. Todd's. The two bothed groaned in a comical way at the impact. Ana laughed and Mr. Todd snorted in distaste. Rubbing her forehead, Ana's brows furrowed.

"Ah... Mr. T, it's still dark out..." She said quietly. Mr. Todd was off the cot and pulling on his clothes in the dark room. She watched his naked figure cloth istself in the shadows. The air felt oddly warm on her bare skin, yet awfully chilled. She hated missing having him by her side. The man picked up her discarded night gown and tossed it lightly towards her, draping it over her head. The snorted at him and pulled it off. In the dark, she could she saw a whicked smile warm his lips, but she couldn't be sure. Everything got lost in translation.

"I'll be light soon enough," Mr. Todd muttered. "And when it is, you need to be _out_." He moved towards her, his shirt half burroned, and carefully helped her on with her night gown. He grabbed her by the warm when he head popped through the hole and roughly heaved her to her feet. Ana winced- between her legs hurt slightly and her body was bruised -her wasn't very tender. She shrugged away from him, perfectly able to leave on her own.

"You should have let me leave when I _tried_ the first twenty times," Ana snapped. She wasn't expecting a whole lot to change... Not really. But still she couldn't much help the small, betrayed feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't like what she'd given him last night was very special just because he was the first to take it. It wasn't like she wanted it to be special. It wasn't like she regaurded him any higher than before... not really... not entirely. Perhaps only a little, small part of her that had yet to be crushed. Maybe it was just the way he was so damn infuriating and darkly nonchalant. And the guilt that ate at her insides, building as she stalked towards the door. She was already thinking of lies to tell Nelle, should the woman wake when she was sneaking back into bed. As her hand grabbed the knob, Ana felt a sharp grip on her wrist. Mr. Todd pulled her a half step towards him and leanred down. He kissed her clumsil, and a bit lack luster, but the effort was obviously there. Ana felt his grasp tighten around her wrist and yelped in surprise when the man bit down sharply on her lower lip. She could feel a few droplets of blood trickle into her mouth. He released her and growled threateningly,

"Now get out!" He reached around her to open the door and pushed her out into the cool, very early morning air, leaving her light headed. The door shut very lightly behind her. Her stomach sank. Touching her lower lip, coming away with a few drops of blood, Ana started down the steps, on her tip toes to keep quiet. Her body was suddenly wired, finding herself unwilling to return back to Nellie. But the woman wasn't as stupid as the customers that ate their friends and family everyday. Quietly, stumbling through the dark parlor, Ana made her way back to bed. She closed the bedroom door behind her, tip-toeing back to bed. Nellie was as asleep as when she'd left her. From the window, Ana could see the dull gray sky just beginning to lighten. Ana lifted the blankets and slid back into bed. Nellie stirred, but didn't wake. Relived she'd gotten away with her sin, Ana closed her eyes and tried to calm her frazzled nerves. The guilt was crushing, now. Ana knew that betraying Nellie like this would be just like stopping time and slapping the woman in the face, over and over and over- she would be blissfully ignorant, but the moment she was aware it would hurt ten fold. But feeling the urge to protect Nellie- even from herself -prevailed and Ana fell into a fitful slumber.

Morning came sooner than Ana wanted. She awoke to a bright light streaming in the window and Nellie tugging her out of bed, a particularly bright dress lain out on the sheets for her- it looked almost new, all baby pinks and creams. Nellie explained absently she wanted Ana looking her best to bring in men for tonight. They needed lots of customers for lots of cover. Ana tried not to feel accountable for the baker's giddy distant distraction. She waited for the baker to leave the room to undress- for when she peeled away her night gown her hips were marked with bruises that fit the contours of the bakers large hands. Ana winced, ignoring her sore body as she turned to the dress lain out on the bed. It was so pretty, not something she'd seen in the back of Nellie's closet before. her stomach sank even further as she fingered the soft fabric. When she pulled it on over the tight corset and pink leggings, the skirt hit the very top of her feet and hugged her body tighter than any of Nellie's old dresses. The creams and pinks weren't at all blaring against her hair color, the firey red locks thrown in a mess over one shoulder. Sighing, ANa turned away from the mirror and slipped on her trainers, lacing them up. Nellie wouldn't mind too much if she wore them again, just for today- they matched the dress, after all.

Toby was helping Nellie make some bread when Ana walked into the shop. They were chattering happily amoungst themselves. Ana's face lit into a smile at the sight- what a great mother Nellie would make for young Toby. She needed someone to look after. And after she helped Johanna and Antony, she would work to find her way back home, least she catch her death sneaking back and forth from the barber shop to bed every night.

Nellie looked up and her smile was bright and warm. "Oh..." she breathed, stepping around the counter. Toby looked up as well, his eyes growing wide as saucers.

"Wow, Miss Ana!" he said shyly. "You look pretty!"

"Beautiful, love," Nellie said, taking her by the hands and looking her over fondly. Ana's smile was weak. It didn't hit her how much thought Nellie must've put into picking out the dress for her. Overwhelmed, Ana wrapped her arms around the baker and pulled her into a tight hug. She squeezed her close.

"Thank you, Nellie," she murmured.

"Now, now!" the baker fretted, pulling away and holding her by the shoulders. "Don't go acting like yeh're saying a goodbye! 'Ere, take this tray up to Mr. T, I'm sure 'e'll be wanting some breakfast by this time, then come back down prompt-like. Always work to be done, spick 'an span, tha's my motto!" Nellie turned and picked up a tray with a bowl of steaming oatmeal and some bread. Ana, hesitantly, took the tray. She caught Nellie giving her a curious look as she turned to take the food upstairs. It'd only been a few hours since she last saw him, but god only knew that man had been awake since she retreated from his bed. At the top of her stairs, she didn't bother to knock, as per usualy, and instead just held the tray against her hip and opened the door. The bell jingled. Mr. Todd stood with his back to her, facing the window. A razor hung limply in one hand by his side, the other resting on the sill. She moved quietly to place the tray on the small table by the vanity.

"Brought you up some breakfest, Mr. Todd," Ana announced, aware tat her voice was strangely flat. The man turned to look at her, then, a vaugely surprised look on his face. He raised a single brow. Ana shrugged and let out a shakey breath before turning to exit the room.

"Wot?" the man grunted, almost sounding insulted. "Not going to give me twenty question about eatin' it?"

Ana frowned, turning half way to look at him.

Mr. Todd looked curiously down at the tray. "The force at which you attack any task and challenge given to you is... admirable, if not a been frightening. No young lady should be so malevolent." His lips gave way to the ghost of a smile. "For some reason, that's not present today."

Ana frowned deeper. She wished he would make up his mind. Was he drawn to her or repelled by her? He couldn't have it both ways, and either way she was tired of this yo-yo game. She wasn't sure if she had the energy for much more of it- even if she knew that he knew that she could take it. Her shoulders lifted and dropped once more. Mr. Todd raised his brows lightly, tilting his head to the side as he regaurded her, as if seeing her for the first time. She realized the warm colors of her dress must've caught his attention. It made her feel slightly powerful.

"Mrs. Lovett get you that, did she?" he questioned dryly. Ana nodded.

"She's a real lady," Ana replied, hugging her arms around her waist as if hugging the dress. Mr. Todd grunted. His brows knit together.

"Leave me," he commanded. Ana's eyes flashed- really, the mood swinging had to stop.

"You're aboslutely infuriating!" Ana snapped. She turned on her heel. To her surprised and irritation, a satisfied cackle followed her out of the shop as she stormed away.

The rush that was supposed to start at dinner time, started a bit earlier. Too early. Like at noon. Of course, there were plenty of pies to go around and Nellie was up and down those bakehouse steps so quickly that you would have thought she'd jumped them! Ana was thankful for her trainers then as she ran back and forth from the shop to the court, waiting on customers and collecting pennies in her bodice, which began to feel heavy and lumpy, thus resulted in her handing the coins off to Toby whenever she would pass him, and he would shove them in the pocket of his apron. Men went up at random intervals to visit Sweeney Todd, and as always, every third man stayed up for some tea and crumpets. And, as always, no one took notice.

He stood up there on that landing every once in a while when there was a lull in customers, but unlike the other times she knew he was watching over her now. She could feel his eyes and every time she glanced up as she walked across the court, his dark eyes were on her, looking amused at something she wouldn't understand or didn't know. Of course, these moments were fleeting, as everyone in London knew of Mr. Todd and oh you just _have_ to do business with him! And yet, no one noticed, ever, that poor unlucky third man.

Once, as the lunch rush was dying down and Ana was sitting at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the parlor, a nice young man made his way towards her. He had peach skin and warm blue eyes under a mess of brown hair. He had stubble upon his cheek and chin and he looked down at her sheepishly, as if he wanted to pass. "'Is the barber wiv summon, miss?" he asked kindly. He wasn't with a customer, no. The second had just come down, and this young man would be the third. He looked down at her, not like the other men had throughout the afternoon, but more the way Antony looked upon her, with childish fascination and a bit of timid respect. When she stood and straightened her skirts, she saw him glance away from her politely. Ana's brows furrowed, and for whatever reason, she interviened with fate.

"He is," Ana said, taking the boy by the arm and setting him down at the end of a table. As Toby marched by with a tray of pies, Ana swiped one and shoved it into the man's hands. "Have a pie while you wait, sir?"

"Thank yeh, miss," the man said. "I 'ope the barber is free soon- I plan on proposing to me love today. I want to look especially nice for her."

Ana's heart thundered in her throat and she pushed away whatever remaints of conscience she had left. Which was almost nothing, now. "How sweet," she said absently.

"Thank yeh, miss," the man said again, his eyes bright as he tucked into his pie. It was her luck that he didn't notice the portly man climb the stairs and enter the parlor. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ana waited a good count before she grabbed the man by the arm, yanking him from his pie.

"Barber's free!" she crooned. "Pie on the house. Good look with your woman, sir!"

The man stuttered another thank you as he stumbled up to the shop. Only when he came back down, clean shaven and jubilant, did Ana return to her trumping about the court and shop with pies and ale and pennies in her bodice.

Needless to say, she didn't sit at the bottom of the stairs again.

There was only a momentary lull when Ana could sit and rest her legs, an hour or two when the sun began to hide behind the horizon and the clouds. She was sitting in the shop, her legs up on the seat beside her as she sat in the booth, when she heard Mr. Todd's voice below of the court.

"TO-BY!"

The boy went wheeling up the stairs so fast that Ana was sure the poor boy would trip and fall all the way back down. But he came back down, fit as a fiddle, carrying a peice of paper in his hand, wheeling down the steps and off into the street, disappearing in the distance. She had a half of mind to go up and demand what that was all about, but she was sure he wasn't going to be very too happy if she imposed on his pacing.

Nellie popped up from the bakehouse with another three dozen pies, looking very proud of herself. Ana lept up to help her.

Dinner rush came as soon as night fell. Ana was anxiously staring out into the street for signs of Toby's return, or Antony and Johanna, but she saw none of either. Ana had to work double to keep up with the orders and the pennies and the ale. Nellie was manning the stairs, making sure that no other man walked in on Mr. Todd during his... work, and trying to go quickly to get more pies from the oven when needed.

She saw no sign of Antony and Johanna all through dinner, and she kept a hard look out, staying along the gate and only traveling further into the court when absolutely beckoned. It worried her. Something had to have gone wrong, then, if they weren't there by now. A hard knot formed in her stomach. Soon, people began to disperse. Mr. Todd stood and paced on his landing, watching over her. When the last customer left, Mr. Todd returned into his shop, and Nellie beckoned Ana to follow her into the parlor, forgetting the clean up for the time being.

The two women collapsed, Ana on a warm, red arm chair and Nellie on the chaise lounge, her arms thrown over the sides tiredly. Both gladly put their feet up. It was silence for a while, the two getting some well needed relaxation, at least until the rest of the night played out.

The silence was broken by the baker's tired voice coated with a smile. "You're in love."

Ana looked over from the fire to Nellie, her brows knit together and a looked of obsurdity on her face. "What?"

"Don't deny it," the baker said, smiling to herself as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "You've been sighing aaall day. 'Ho is 'e, love?"

Ana blinked stupidly before looking down in her lap. She didn't believe in love, much less feel the emotion herself as the baker was describing. The girl shook her head, her hair falling out of the tie she had twisted it in, a few locks falling against her pale throat.

"I'm not in love, Nellie," she said. "Just been distracted, that's all. I'm far too young to be in love."

Nellie laughed her warm hearted laugh. "Ah, deary- yeh never too young to be in love. An' tha's when it's greatest. Young, niave love. Before yeh know much better. Take the sailor boy- only reason Mr. T is going along wiv this as well 'as 'e is an' not takin' 'is Johanna all for 'imself when 'e gets 'ere, is cos 'e been in the boys boots. Knows all about young love, Mr. T does."

Ana looked up at the ceiling. As if he'd known they were talking about him, he began pacing, his footsteps light and lithe.

"I don't know anything about love," Ana said.

"Wot's there to know?" the baker asked. "Yeh feel it, it's there, yeh enjoy it. Even if it's unrequited."

A dagger lodged into Ana's heart. "You ever been in love, Nellie?"

"Oh, of course," the woman sighed. "Once... wiv a nice young man. 'Ad the prettiest smile, 'e did. Come into me shop every mornin' for a nice big pie. 'Ad the brightest brown eyes I ever did see. Devoted an' loyal. 'E always regaurded me 'as lit'le more than a friend, yeh see... an' I was already wiv me dear Albert then. Lovely man, but 'e wasn't much for conversations, or love... Took care of me, 'e did, though, me Albert."

Ana's brow wrinkled. "You didn't love Albert?"

"We're not all as lucky as the pretty ones," Nellie said calmly. "No, me 'eart belonged to the gentleman that lived about me all them years ago. Not much left of 'im now... poor bugger."

A silence lulled between them for a while as Ana let it all sink slowly in. A meat cleaver joined the dagger in her heart. Nellie loved, still did, Mr. Todd. It wasn't hard to tell with the way the woman doted on him. The stop between her legs throbbed and suddenly her bruises under her dress felt scaldingly obvious. She opened her mouth to speak to confess her sins and her lies and to get on her knees and beg the kind baker to forgive her, but out of the corner of her eye she caught Toby slipping around the corner of the parlor. Her breath caught in her throat and she changed her sentance just in time.

"There you are, boy!" Ana said brightly. Nellie opened her eyes to gaze at Toby. "Where've you been all day? Could have used you during rush hour."

"Aye, me bones is ready to drop," Nellie agreed.

"Mr. Todd sent me on an errand," he explained, coming towards them, looking anxious. "An' I stopped by the work 'ouse, on the way back, just to take a look... an' I thought.. if it weren't for you, I'd be there now. Seems like the good lord sent you for me." He knelt by Nellie's chair and Ana watched fondly, the scene tugging at her snipped heart strings.

"I feel the same way, love," Nellie said tiredly, closing her eyes again.

"Listen to me, please..." The boy said. Urgency was in his voice. Ana sat up a bit, as did Nellie. "What if there was summon bad... only... you didn't know it."

"Wot's this? Wot you talkin' about?" the baker asked.

"Nothin's gonna harm you, not while I'm around. Nothin's gonna harm you, no sir... not while I'm around..." Toby said passionately, grabbing Nellie's hand and holding it in both of his. Ana could see his knuckles turn white with the effort.

"What do you mean someone bad?" Ana spoke up, his eyes narrowing slightly- but she knew exactly who. He was pacing up above right then.

"Demons are prowling everwhere, nowadays. I'll send 'em howlin', I don't care! I've got ways!" The boy glanced at Ana, his face almost miserably concerned. "No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna day. Others can desert you, not to worry, whistle I'll be there." His eyes bored into Ana's, and her stomach did a flip, and another dagger joined the first and the cleaver in her heart. "Demons'll charm you, wiv a smile, for a while. But in time... nothin's gonna harm you. Not while I'm around."

Nellie didn't give the boy time to continue on, as she stood and pat him on the head. "Now, Toby dear... what _are_ you talkin' about?"

The boy grabbed the edge of her skirt. "Bein' close and bein' clever, ain't like being true! I don't need to, I will never, hide a thing from you. Like some..." His eyes darted upward and both Ana and Nellie caught it- then turned their eyes onto each other. Sighing, Nellie moved away towards the piano where she reached into her bodice and pulled out a bright red purse. Ana watched with mild eyes.

"Now, Toby dear... that's enough of this foolish chatter... 'ere, why don't I give you a nice... shiney new penny," she turned and held out the coin to him. "An' you take Ana an' you get us some toffees?"

The boy looked elated at the sight of the coin, and Ana relaxed, sure that it would distract him from his purpose. But then something dawned across his face and he looked frightened for the first time since she'd known him. "That's Signor Pirelli's purse!" He exclaimed.

"No it's not!" Nellie defended, tucking the purse away. "Just somethin' Mr. T gave me for me birfday!"

"That proves it!" Toby cried, grabbing her hand and motioning to Ana. "We've gotta go Mum, miss Ana! We've gotta find the Beadle and get the law 'ere an---"

"Hush, now," Ana reprimanded, standing and swiftly grabbing the boy by the arms. Nellie looked wildly greatful. "Hush now, you're not going anywhere. Why do you sit here, nice and quiet, next to me?" She pulled him to the couch and she sat down, tugging him against her. "There, that's right..."

Nellie sat on his other side and her shaking fingers stroked his messy brown hair as the boy leaned his head into Ana's throat.

"Nothin's gonna harm you," Nellie murmured. "Not while I'm around... Nothing's gonna harm you, darling... not while I'm around..."

The three sat there in stunned silence, the two women looking at each other with wide, fearful eyes. Finally, Nellie pulled Toby over to her side, looking down at him warmly. "Funny we should be 'aving this little chat right now... cos I was just thinkin'... You know 'ow you always fancy comin' into the bake 'ouse wiv me to make the pies?" she asked. Ana could hear the first signs of tears in her voice. The boy nodded numbly. "Well... no time like the present, eh?"

Nellie smiled, warm and motherly, but the devestated look in her eyes couldn't be masked by a smile. She stood and took Toby by the hand. She could hear the creaking of the bake house stair doors behind pried open, and the echos of their footsteps as they descended the stairs.

"I feel sorry for you 'aving to go up and down all these stairs!" Toby echoed.

"Well," Nellie said from further down the steps. "That'll be your job, now."

"Yes, Mum!"

Ana sat in numb silence as she listened to their voices fade as they escaped under the shop. Above her, Mr. Todd's pacing had become frantic. Her stomach churned and she placed her chin in her hands, staring at the dying fire, her legs tucked up underneath her body. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, but still, she couldn't stop it.

A tear rolled down her cheek, dropping into her lap and leaving a wet salty spot on the once cheery baby pink of her dress.


	10. Chapter 10

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** Ooooh, almost finished, you guys! This is the LAST chapter, and then there's the epilouge. Are you all excited as I am? It's like getting to the end of a really good movie and you just NEED to know how it's all gonna end! Well, at least for me it is. But, I know how this is gonna end, so all you silly people will just have to wait and see! I'm the master of killing off characters, so all the deaths will be super easy for me.

Will they be easy for you to read about? Who knows! Thanks for all your darling reviews, they make me so happy insiiiide. I really hope I do the final scene justice, because I'm SOOO nervous. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to end, until I got there. So... we'll see.

And everyone- I know I should use spell check, or get a beta, or something, but the truth of the matter is, I type these up in word doc because it makes it easier to write them for me. And I'm far too excited to ever get a beta, but I promise I'll read them over more and fix the mistakes. And if I ever make another multi-chapter fic, I'll do the same thing. I just tend to type REALLY fast and my fingers muff up words.

Don't forget to review! Love you guuuysss.

Especially my Finny!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter nine** Finale Scene

_You can be cautious or just a rebel_

_Until the day the Lord kicks your bell_

_Angel or devil who can unravel_

_So just blow it all to hell_

_You can be lovely_

_You can be ugly_

_It aint no matter if you sing or bark_

_'Cos where we all go_

_Just poison ivy_

_will grow wild on your heart_

The sound of the bakehouse lock slamming into place was enough to drive anyone into madness.

Ana stood in the short hall between the parlor and the shop when Nellie came back up. Her face was stricken and pale and her eyes were moist with tears. She looked ever so devestated at what she'd done and looked at Ana with a face begging for forgiveness. The girl didn't hesitate and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, leaning on her toes. Nellie pressed a hand to her mouth, the tears spilling across her cheeks. Ana couldn't find it in her to feel hatred towards the baker, nor distaste. She knew she was only protecting the man up stairs. Pushing back the thoughts of Toby, down tehre, no doubt about to find out the dark secret of Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shoppe. That thought- of getting found out -scared her more than it should.

Ana waited at the bottom of the stairs as Nellie went up to Mr. Todd's shop. She closed the court door behind her firmly. The streets were eerily silent- not a single person roamed. And no sight of Antony and the barber's daughter. Ana clenched her jaw and waited patiently there at the bottom of the stairs. She thought she heard a clicking sound- a door being shut, but the loud sounds of Nellie and Mr. Todd trumping down the steps made her turn her heard sharply.

"I got 'im locked in, but if 'e escapes, 'e'll go to the law," Nellie said in breathless hysterics as she bound down the steps. Mr. Todd wasn't far behind her. His eyes were dark, but calmly satisfied.

"'E wont escape," Mr. Todd said firmly. "Ana, I need you to---" But his request was stopped as the door behind her swung open and both Nellie and Ana whirled. Two twin yelps of fright were the reaction to the Beadle's presence suddenly in the door way. Ana's hand flew to her throat. Up close, the man was very ugly and dirty. His teeth were yellow and poorly filled. His dark, beady eyes landed on her cleavage for a few moments, taking in the swell of her breast. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. She didn't see the flash of vengenge in Mr. Todd's eyes.

"S'cuse me," Nellie pardoned lightly. "Gave us a fright!" She grabbed Ana by the arm and pulled her hard towards her, wrapping a protective greedy arm around her shoulders. As if to say, "I'm not losing this one." Ana squeezed her hand lightly in silence assurance. The woman looked between the barber and the Beadle. Mr. Todd's lips twisted upward in a malicious grin.

"Pardon me, Madam," Beadle Bamford said condescendingly. "That was no my original intention... But I _am_ here on offical... business." The Beadle talked with long pauses between his words, making it sound as if he'd just run a while. His hat was tipped of his pig-like face and a dark smile fell over his lips. "I've gotten complaints about the smoke from your chimney... they says at night it is something most... foul. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a look... at your... bakehouse."

Ana's blood ran cold and as the man moved towards the cellar stairs, Nellie moved subtly to block his back and Mr. Todd placed a hand on his shoulder. How wonderfully in unison they worked! The Beadle's eyes rested on her for a half a second longer than they should have before he turned his head to look at Mr. Todd. Ana felt numb tot he world for a moment. But somehow, craftily, Mr. Todd had coaxed the Beadle up stairs. Nellie took off into the shop and Ana stood for a few quiet minutes there in the court. Her eyes searched the street. Even less signs of Johanna and Antony than there had been during the rush. Her heart thundered in her throat. In the shop, Nellie was cleaning nervously. Ana returned to her side, place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Nellie began shaking her head frantically back and fourth.

"'E'll kill 'im," Nellie whispered. Ana somehow knew she wasn't talking about Bamford. "I knew I couldn't keep 'im around much longer, 'e was too young an' 'e was too good, but I don't want 'im to kill 'im. 'E 'as to kill 'im." The woman sniffed as she scrubbed weakly at the flour covered counter. "'E'll go tot he law an' we'll all be given a hangin'..." She sighed softly. "I knew I couldn't keep 'im forever. But I dreamed."

Ana's mouth felt dry and she wasn't sure if she should say anything or not. She decided against it however as the woman straightened her back and wiped her brow on her forearm. Nellie was, without a doubt, the strongest woman she'd ever met. A determined look crossed the woman's face as she went on silently cleaning. Ana plopped onto the stool behind the counter. She tried to picture poor young Toby down in that dreadful bakehouse, probably unawares yet that he'd been locked in. A loud noise came from above the shop, a mechanical clanking, creaking sound. Both women looked up, Nelli'es expression horrified and miserable. Ana swallowed down bile.

A loud pounding started from the bakehouse door. Toby's muffled screeching was heard. Ana jumped up and glanced at Nellie, who was suddenly looked back down at the counter. Her expression was devestated. Her eyes twisted shut and her fingers clenched her wash rag. Ana's hearted broke for the woman. She could see, clear as day, how badly Nellie wanted to run to the boy's aid. And yet she couldn't. Her love for Mr. Todd- the man he used to be, really -was stronger than her motherly instict. It broke Ana's heart. Toby's calls got louder and she heard him calling _her_ next, her name muffled by the big, metal door. She took a half step towards the door that lead to the count. Nellie's warm hadn on her shoulder halted her advances and the two women listened as his shouts moved away from the doors. All was silent for a half minute. Mr. Todd's apperance took everything out of slow motion.

"Mrs. Lovett," the man snapped. "Come."

Nellie saw the razor in his hand as plainly as Ana did and she swallowed. Ana, swearing to keep her promise to protect the kind woman, stepped forward instead, shaking her head.

"I'll go," Ana responded. Mr. Todd wrinkled his nose, but he didn't object, but isntead turned swift for the bakehouse stairs. But, ever so faithfully, Nellie followed in tow of Ana. All three of them descended the steps. Ana could only remember the last time she'd been in the dark cellar, and her hand shook and trembled as her memories of the dear bodies in the corner under the trap door flooded over her. She let Nellie pass her on the last step, hestitating at the doorway. Mr. Todd turned halfway and glared at her, reaching to take her by the writ and yank her over the threshold. She stumbled, but caught herself just in time.

"Tooooby," Nellie called lightly into the darkness, the furnace door shut and only giving off a pale, orange light. Ana didn't look towards the corner where she knew the Beadle's body lay. "Where aaaare you looove?" Nellie's voice bounced off the walls.

"Where is he?" Ana whispered.

In the farthest corner of the bakehouse was a small passage way that lead down into the dark, cold sewers under London. The sound of wooshing, dripping water echoed off the dark, stone walls. If the bakehouse had a hot, orange glow, then the sewers gave of a cold, blue-ish hue. Ana found herself stopping at the top of the three, stone steps that lead down to the sewers. She could hear Nellie's heels clicking along the stone walkway below, her warm voice holding the sound of choked back tears and even a bit of warning- like if Toby was in ear shop that he should get far, far away. "Nothings gonna harm you," Nellie's voice echoed. "Not while I'm around."

Ana finally stepped down the stairs, standing quietly in the passage way. Mr. Todd's voice was sharp as he called out Toby's name. Ana followed their voices around the corner, nearly running into Mr. Todd's back. His razxor was clutched in his hand behind him. Everything was getting oddly out of hand. Nellie's dream plan seemed bleaker and bleaker with every passing minute. Her own plan to find her way home seemed just as far off. Ana thought she heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't care to look. When Nellie rounded another corner, Mr. Todd turned abruptly and grabbed her by the shoulders. Ana bit back a terrfied, pathetic squeal. He looked down at her with dark eyes. He leaned down until they were face to face. His breath ghost across her forehead. Like a kiss.

"Are you frightened?" he whispered, his voice still echoing slightly. Ana's brows knit together and bit her lip, chewing on the delicate skin, ripping it with distinct care. To her surprise, Mr. Todd quickly and gently raised his hand and peeled her lip away from between her teeth. She looked down.

"A little," she admited.

"Good," the man said sharply, standing straight again. "You're finally reacting as expected."

Nellie returned around the corner and Mr. Todd turned to look at her. She shook her head and the barber turned and shoved on past Ana. The women looked at each other before following the tempermental man back into the cellar of the shop. The warmth of the bakehouse was almsot welcoming, but the stench reminded her of death.

"'E won't get far," Mr. Todd growled. "Mrs. Lovett, leave the Beadle and the both of you come upstairs. The judge will be here soon." He disappeared on that note up the cellar stairs. Nellie pressed a hand to her lips and Ana could see the pain in her eyes swimming in tears. She moved to the older woman's side as quickly as she could and crushed her arms around the baker, throwing them both back a few steps. Nellie burried her face into Ana's throat and for once the child comforted her mother. For a few seconds she allowed the dispair to drown her. But the vulnerability didn't last long, for the baker pulled away and took Ana by her hand and started for the bakehouse steps. Such a strong woman, her Nellie was. Nothing but love and determination, her Nellie was. Ana could feel her hyperventalition begin to set in as they left the heat behind and stomped up to the shop.

"Come on, love," Nellie crooned, setting Ana down on the stool. "Bein' down there don't never do you any good... that's right." She smoothed her hand over the fly-away strands of Ana's messy hair. She closed her eyes and forced all thoughts of what was moral and right out of her head, because those thoughts would do her no good. For a minute, the two just sat there in silence, calming frazzled nerves and churning stomachs.

A figure went flying noisily by the court door and up the stairs to the barber shop. Ana and Nellie moved towards the door. A voice, older and frantic, shouted on the way up- "Mr. Todd!"

"Turpin!" Nellie hissed. The judge. Ana looked up towards the ceiling. The judge. Somehow the Judge knew how to find the barber at his most malicious. She knew then the man wouldn't escape again. It all felt as if it were coming to a close, now. Ana could finally catch the breath that eluded her since the night began as she and Nellie sat in the shop, listening to the house creak- and the goings on upstairs through the language of footsteps. Ana found she'd come very good at reading footsteps in the time she'd been there. She felt almost calm now, sitting there, as if it was all going to be over soon.

Mr. Todd's barbaric yawp from above was muffled, but not long after the clanking of the chair tipping back was heard. Nellie squealed with delight and jumped up and away from Ana, moving towards the bakehouse.

"The judge is dead!" Nellie cackled as she disappeated. Ana was left alone in the shop, feeling her head spin with the rush of it all. She wondered if Mr. Todd felt freed now. She wondered, if Nellie's dream of living by the sea would become truer than true? Would they really leave this place? Would the sun rise and the sky actually turn blue and cloudless? Because she felt so trapped in London, now, with it's cage of clouds forever closing in on them. Ana looked up at the ceiling, closing her eyes. What was her Mr. Todd thinking now? She wasn't expecting him to change- not entirely. Not at all. To seek revenge may lead to hell, though everyone does it, though seldom as well, as Sweeney Todd. Ana chuckled quietly to herself, letting out almost a sigh of relief. It was over. It was really, really all over.

Or not.

A scream echoed from the bakehouse and Ana jumped. Nellie's voice came up from the cellar stairs. "DIE! DIE! GOD IN HEAVEN- DIE!"

She reached the court door just as Mr. Todd reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked... scary. For the first time, Ana was taken aback and _frightened_ by the very sight of him. He didn't look like the dangerous but scarily calm if not mood swingy barber that she had known. But instead, his face was hardened and his eyes cold, blood splattered across his face, his white sleeves soaked red. The streak of white stringing through his hair was stained crimson. Ana knew her face betrayed her, because he flashed his razor threateningly towards her.

"Wait 'ere," he snarled before descending the steps. Ana stood numb where she was, the crushing weight had returned to her chest. At the top of the stairs, leading to Mr. Todd's flat, stood a young lad, who as he rushed down the stairs, Ana saw was not a lad at all, but instead a very young, pretty girl dressed in a boy's clothing. She nearly ran into Ana as she moved to stop her from coming down the stairs.

"Who are you?" Ana demanded. "What are you doing here?"

The looked scared for a moment, her big blue eyes wide. And yet she looked relieved. She reached out a hand and grabbed Ana's tightly.

"Are you the Miss Ana Antony spoke of?" she asked breathlessly. Ana's brows furrowed, but she nodded nonetheless. "The sailor brought me 'ere... 'e searched the house looking for you, but you weren't to be found.. so 'e took me to the shop. A man- a madman, miss, a sweaty toothed madman--!"

"Hush," Ana said. This was Johanna. Pretty, yellow-haired Johanna sho's locks were shoved up under a cap.

"I hid in the trunk in a corner," Johanna went on, her big blue eyes looking off so forlornly. "I 'eard my gaurdian, Judge Turpin... but when I opened the trunk 'e was gone and the madman was..." she paused. "An' I only hid because a woman wandered up--- sounded kind of crazy, but I reckon 'e killed 'er too... would 'ave killed me, if summon 'adn't 'ad screamed. Told me to forget 'is face... all covered in blood... Miss Ana, I'm so glad you're unharmed!"

Ana did a double take.

"Lady?" she asked. Johanna nodded numbly, looking off with searching eyes. Suddenly, a coach pulled up from the streets to the curb of the walkway infront of the shop. Antony flung off it in excitement, running towards them, nearly leaping over the gate.

"Miss Ana!" he crowed, flinging his arms around her in a tight hug before pulling away. He began to thank her, obviously forgetting she had been unable to hold up her end of the deal. "Thank you, so much, Miss Ana! And when you see Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett thank tem as well. I am forever in your debt."

Ana swallowed and shoved him towards the coach, roughly grabbing young Johanna and giving her a push after him. "You want to repay me? Go, now, before anything else goes wrong tonight."

Antony wrapped his arm around Johanna, and the girl's cap fell off her head. A mess of dirty blonde hair fell around her face. The sailor nodded and without another word, turned and jogged to the waiting coach, pulling his young bride along with him. Ana didn't wait to watch tem ride off before she truned back to the cellar stairs. Excitement flooded her as she stepped lightly- Mr. Todd would be glad to know that his young Johanna was safe now with Antony. Of course, her new found giddiness was countered with the feelings of sickness the bakehouse evoked from her. She took her time moving down the steps, holding the stone wall as she went. The sound of Mr. Todd's voice stopped her ont he middle stair. She couldn't see him from where she stood and figured that she was invisible as well.

"Don't I know you... she said..." the man wheezed. Curiosity tugged at Ana's stomach, but something kept her frozen on her stair. "You knew she lived." Grief and accusation flooded his voice.

The sound of the baker's heels clicking on the stone alerted Ana that she was moving away. "I was only thinkin' of you," Ana heard her say. Her brows knit together. What had happened while she had been directing the young couple to safty?

"You lied to me!" the barber accused. A small part of Ana instantly knew.

"No, no not lied at all!" the baker pleaded in a high pitched voice. "No, I never lied---"

"Lucy..." Mr. Todd moaned.

Lucy. Ana's eyes went wide and she stared numbly at the stone wall of the stair well, her heart stopping. The old begger must've wandered up on her own accord just before the judge came. How Mr. Todd would have recognized her before he went her to her doom was impossible to tell and easily forgiveable. Killed her, his own wife. His love. His life. Ana felt her heart break for him and the pain made her kenes weak, forcing her to slump to sit on the step above her. She couldn't remember when she last felt so selfless for another person. She realized then that she throbbed hollowly inside. Her throat was dry as she placed her hands on her knees. From her new, lower position she could see Mr. Todd knealing over the crippled old hag of a Lucy. She couldn't see where Nellie stood, but the look of utter devestation on the barber's face made him seem almost human. Almost. Nellie was still hastily trying to explain herself.

"---said she took a poison she did, never said that she died---"

"I've come home... again..." the barber moaned pitifully, looking down at the poor body of his wife. His hand stroked her cheek and arm that lay strew awkwardly across her body. Ana's breath hitched in her throat.

"---poor thing, she lived, but it left her weak in the head, all she did for months was just lie there in bed---"

"Lucy..." Mr. Todd weakly begged as he gripped the limp shoulders of his wife. Ana resisted the urge to run to him. The way he looked down at the dead woman suggested that the man Nellie was in love with was still in there. Somewhere. Perhaps he just needed some coaxing.

"---should 'ave been in a hospital, wound up in Bedlam instead, poor thing---"

"Oh, my god..." he breathed. His eyes flashed dangerously and even Ana saw from where she sat. Her breath hitched and it felt like she was stuck on that stair, unable to intervien with what was sure to come next. It wasn't like she didn't know- but her body was numb, unable to move.

"--better you should think she was dead- yes, I lied! 'Cause I love you! I'd be twice the wife she was---!"

"Lucy..." Mr. Todd's jaw clenched and his face snapped upwards, toward wherever Nellie stood in that room. Ana knew that look all too well. The one where he locked your eyes like a snake and wouldn't let go. There was no escape from that look. But Ana's whimper of protest died in her throat.

"---I love you! Could that _thing_ have cared for you like _me_?!"

"Mrs. Lovett!" Mr. Todd said in a loud voice, throwing himself into a stand. It was at this point that Ana found the strength to stand and slip down the steps. Her body was hidden behind the iron door. "You're a bloody wonder! Imminently practical and yet appropriate as always! As you've said repeatedly there's little point in dwelling on the past---"

He was advancing on her. Ana watched, her heart racing, pounding so loud in her ears that she heard little else.

"Do you mean it?" Nellie asked breathlessly. "Everythind I did, I swear thought was only for the best--!"

"Do come here, my love," Mr. Todd hissed scathingly.

_No!_ Ana's mind screamed. _No, god, Nellie, no!_

"Nothing to fear, my love!" he lied.

"Can we... still be... married?" the baker was swept into a clumsy waltz with the barber. Ana couldn't find it in her to move, mesmorized by the way the fire light from the open furnace danced their shadows across across the stone walls, growing bigger as the danced closer and closer.

"The history of the world, my pet!" Mr. Todd began.

"Oh, Mr. Todd, oh Mr. Todd, leave it to me!" Nellie gushed.

"---Is learn forgiveness and try to forget---"

"By the sea, Mr. Todd! We'll be comfy cozy, by the sea, Mr. Todd, where there's no one nosy---"

_No_, Ana thought as she saw how close the man was leading the woman, blinded by her love. Blinded by the man she so desperately wanted him to be.

"And life is for the alive, my dear," his face turned malevolent.

_No_- Ana thought desperately, stepping from around the door.

"So let's keep living it--" his eyes grew dark as he swung her closer. "Just keep living it--"

_NO!_ Ana's mind screamed.

"REALLY LIVING IT!" He threw her.

Ana didn't realize she was _actually_ screaming and making her way across the room, running. Nellie's screams were mingled with her own. She was in the fire, burning, screaming and Ana had broken her promise to keep her safe. The door of the furnace was shut firmly before she could reach it. Her body crashed into Mr. Todd's, and she was still screaming hysterics. _God, no- no, no!_ Strong arms locked around her as she grabbed for the handle of the oven. _No, no, NO--_

"NO!" Ana scramed. "Nellie, no!" Her hands slapped useless and desperate at the arms that were locked tight around her waist. "I promised! I wasn't going to let her get hurt--- I --- NO! ---!" Mr. Todd pulled her away. Now it was jsut her screaming over and over. Nellie's voice had died away. _No! Keep screaming Nellie, keep fighting, no! Don't die, NO!_ "Let - go - of - me!"

Mr. Todd held her against him. One large hand held her head against his chest, his other around her shoulders. He had killed her Nellie- her warm, motherly, Nellie. She screamed into his chest and beat her hands into whatever part of his body she could reach. His hands tightened around her even more. As she was screaming, she realized she was crying. Bone-shattering, breath stealing sobs. It _hurt_. Everything hurt. The grip he had on her hurt. Her heart beat, battered, bloody and broken against her rib cage, and it hurt. Every breath she took hurt her lungs. Her fists hurt from hitting him over and over. Her throat was raw from screaming and every gasping sob she took hurt. Her body hurt- it just hurt. Her sobs turned into miserable moans and Ana stopped hitting him and instead grabbed his shirt in her fingers. They got sticky with blood. He killed her. He killed her!

"You killed her!" Ana screamed, throwing herself away from him. "She didn't do anything but take care of you and me and you killed her- you fucking killed her!"

"Ana, stop this," he said sharply. He grabbed her and pulled her back from the oven, which she was clawing at, breaking her nails to try and open.

"NO!" she screamed, fighting against his strong grip as he locked his hands around her wrists. He didn't try to justify his actions. He needn't, because Ana knew the reason- anger. Rage. Blinded by revenge. Nellie had lied to him and to him a life was worth a life. The life of a common street begger who's head had gone loopy from years of lonliness and depression as worth the life of Fleet Streets own bundle of warmth. Her Nellie was worth more than that, and he had killed her.

Ana found that she wasn't fighting him any longer as she stared longingly at the oven that he put himself between. A part of her wanted to believe that the women would step out of her own ashes if she opened that big iron door, like a pheonix. The other part was numb to everything- the bruises that Mr. Todd had placed on her trying to restrain her didn't even sting. Her breathing was heavy as she stood there, half slumped against him as he held her. But his eyes weren't on her- they were in the corner of the room, where his Lucy lay, dead and bent and broken and still trickling blood from the clean slice in her throat, too quick to even cause a blood spurt.

"She's home now," Ana whispered when she looked up at him and caught where his gaze landed. He looked down at her, as if he'd been caught doing something he knew he shouldn't, his brows pulled together. She hated herself for comforting him- hated herself so much. "Your Lucy," she whispered. "She's home now."

Mr. Todd's eyes narrowed, and then glanced towards the oven. He shoved Ana away from him and watched in almost satisfation as she knocked her back against the wall. "As is your Lovett," he said so soft it was almost a breath out of his lips. He stalked away from her, towards Lucy's body, and dropped to his knees. Carefully, he pulled her into his arms, across his lap. His breath was shaky and Ana watched from where she'd been thrown, slumping into the wall for support, her legs weak. Finally, they gave out and she slid slowly down the wall until her butt hit the stone floor. "Lucy..." Mr. Todd murmured from where he sat, rocking the woman closer. "I've come home again..."

_Home_.

Oh, how she wanted to go home. Lucy was home. Nellie was home. Why couldn't she just her her way---

_Home_.

"Mr. Todd," Ana breathed softly. He was lost in his thoughts. "Mr. Todd," she said louder. The man turned his head a fraction of an inch, as a knee-jerk reaction. "Mr. T, are you listening to me?"

"_What_?!" He snarled, not bothering to look at her.

Ana sighed and looked upwards at the high ceiling of the dark, orange-tinted celler. "I need you to do me a favor," she asked. Her voice was breathless with an odd excitement. Her body shook with quivers and trembles- was she going into shock? This was a distinct possibility. Couldn't people die of shock? Her hands quivered as she smoothed her fingers over the frumpy skirts of her dress. The man turned this time to look at her, his hand still stroking over the dead Lucy's hair, stringy and once perhaps a very beautiful blonde. His face was dark with the dried blood and his eyes were hard. Perhaps it was the way she looked so pathetic and that he really did have a small part of his heart left to him, or perhaps it was that he realized she was all he had left, but for whatever reason, he carefully laid his wife down to rest, hesitating with his fingers brushing her bands out of her eyes, before turning to stand and stomp to Ana's side. He reached down, as if to grab her arms and yank her up- but instead the girl took him by the shoulders and pulled him down. His center of gravity hadn't been all that great to begin with, and he came crashing ontop of her, their lips meeting in a collision corse. She could _taste_ the blood that had splattered into his mouth on her lips. They kissed, hard and quick and raw and her hands grabbed his hips- her fingers brushed over a hard object hidden in the hollister on her hip.

_Bingo_.

She was surprised by how quickly she could open the razor and push her free hand into his throat, careening him back from her. He looked dazed for a second before he saw the razor she wield in her hand. Ana raised her chin and held it to her own throat. His expression didn't change much- his eyes narrowed, and his hand darted out to wrap around her wrist.

"Stop," she breathed. "Let go."

"Don't," he demanded sharply. "Don't you dare."

"You were so right," she could feel the cool metal against her throat every time she spoke and her arm ached witht he effort to keep it there, even as he clutched her wrist so tightly that she thought it was going to break. "I didn't know what such feelings would do to me. Now I do. And I'll gladly escape them."

"Don't you dare leave me alone," the barber finally snarled, leaning into her, making sure not to put any pressure on her wrist. No, he tried to pry that away from her throat.

"You need to let me go _home_, Mr. T," Ana begged pitifully. His eyes darted over her face. So she was all he had left. And is scared him- but she wasn't going to go letting on that she knew that. The man's hand quivered, before straightening with a grip ten fold. The cool mental was forced away from her throat and the man slammed her hand against the wall beside her head.

"No," he snarled.

"I want to go _home_!" Ana shouted at him. Her breathing staggered and she was much more quiet, "_Please_..."

Mr. Todd let his grip on her wrist loosen but he wriggled the razor out of her hand. Roughly, he pulled her to him and pulled her into his lap, resting her head on his shoulder. On his hand, he held the razor, the other curled around her shoulders and holding her to him. He looked down on her, his face suddenly so devoid of emotion. But Ana knew she looked stupidly giddy, excited, maybe, even. _Home_, she thought blissfully. She hadn't any doubt in her mind that this was the right way, the only way. Nothing was going to magically lead her back home. No, it had to be taken by force, by herself or by someone else. Her hands twisted into the folds of his blood stained white shirt. She tilted her chin up obediantely.

"Rest now, my pet," he whispered to her, his head tilted so his cheek rested on the top of her head. She could feel the cold metal sting her hot flesh as he simply placed it there. "Sleep, now, the untroubled sleep of the angels..."

It happened too quickly for her to really feel anything but the cold metal digging into her flesh and the odd tuggin sensation at her throat as he dragged it as quickly as possible, as hard as possible, and as deep as he could, slicing as many things on the way through as possible. Her green eyes stared up at him, still seeing, even as her mind slowly shut down, the blood escaping through a gash in her throat.

She thought she saw a salty track of water slowly slid down his cheek- only one, really, but she couldn't be too sure, because her vision was beginning to dot with black spots. _It's alright_, she wanted to say. _It's alright_. But when she opened her mouth- or tried -a warm metallic liquid gushed forward and dribbled over her chin.

It all went black after that. For a while. She couldn't hear anything but a loud silence in her ears, a soft buzzing. The buzzing, of course, got louder, until she could make it out to be a single name, repeated over and over.

_Ana... Ana... Ana... Ana!_

"Analise!"

Her eyes opened.

The sun warmed a square on the dusty floor from the large bay window, the light casting orange glows every where. Her arm felt awkward from where she'd been laying on it and the pins and needles feeling hurt her fingers as blood rushed back into them. With her other hand, she pushed herself into a sitting position, her head lifted, red hair falling over one side of her shoulders. As the girl lifted her face, she saw her mother towering over her, hand son her hips, a dark look crossing over her face once she saw that her daughter wasn't laying dead. Before, she had seen what she thought was worry.

But everything got lost in translation.

"What are you doing laying on the floor? I've been calling for ten minutes downstairs! I'm leaving. Get up." The woman crowed. Ana looked around her- the floorboard was still upturned and the little journal lay a few feet away, closed and the _Do Not Read_ plain as day. The little velvet box sat by her knees. She blinked rapidly.

"Ten minutes?" she asked in a tired voice. Daisy looked at her daughter with narrowed eyes.

"I'm leaving," she told her snottily. "Remember what I said about giving your Aunt Helen a hard time- don't do it. Get off the floor, put away whatever dirtiness this is and finish unpacking."

Ana watched her mother hesitate a moment before turning away from her, marching towards the door to the room. "Wait!" she called.

The woman stopped and turned expectantly.

Ana looked down at the book and her mind reeled back to the past few weeks events- or... the last ten minutes? -and couldn't quite think clearly. Her heart throbbed as she scrambled to recall what had happened. A cold face flashed in her mind, and a warm hearted baker. But that was it. She clawed at the darkness in her mind, but could not conjour up another memory. She felt frustrated tears prick her eyes.

"What?" Her mother snapped, having waited a good thirty seconds.

Ana looked up in surprise. Mouth dry, she opened and closed it a few times before she swallowed. "I love you, mum," she whispered.

The woman's face softened as her hand hovered at the door knob, ready to shut the door behind her. "Yes... well... I love you too, darling. I'll see you in a few months."

Ana nodded softly. "Bye, mum."

Daisy smiled. "Goodbye, darling." And she was gone.

Ana moved slowly as she grabbed the little journal, dragging the velvet red box to her side. She didn't dare open it again. But another part of her yearned to. Just holding it, she got small flashes- a malicious smile on warm lips, clumsy waltzing in the dirty shop of a meat pie emporium. Raw emotions exploding in a frenzy of clutching hands and needing lips. A man, so quiet, so soft, so hard, so mean, so evil, so broken, so alone. A woman, so soft and warm and ever so motherly, with a voice like nails on a chalk board and a cockney accent so thick it was hard to understand her. And a young couple of lovers that escaped from hell together, arm in arm. And a young boy with a hardened face like a criminal, but a heart as warm and soft as a child's should be.

Ana closed her eyes and dropped the journal and the box back into the floor board, covering it up. She stood and moved towards the full lenght mirror on her way. Her clothes felt too lose, her jeans too constricting. She raised her chin slightly to look up and around her, and when she looked back down her eyes caught something that she thought would be a trick of hte mirror, but when she shifted it was still there.

A long, thick, pink scar wound it's way from one side of her throat to the other, branding her. Marking her.

Ana's lips curled into a smile and she turned away to continue unpacking.

It was only for three months, after all.


	11. Epilouge

**title** Girl Anachronism

**author** pinkeop

**summary** Behold the world's worst accident, I am the girl anachronism. ( AU )

**authors note** HAY GUYS. You wanted it, you got it. Here's the epilouge for the last ten chapters that you've been faithfully rewiewing and telling me how much you love or hate it. This is for you guys!

Without any further ado...

the end.

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**Epilouge**

_a cold heart will burst_

_if mistrusted first_

_and a calm heart will break_

_when given a shake_

_this is how_

_how my heart behaves_

"Momma, are we there?"

"Is this it?"

Analise Jeane glanced back at her children, their warm faces slightly hopeful, even if her daughter tried to make her expression distasteful. Her life, these two little bundle of joys were.

Her son was a spitting image of the man sitting beside her in the passenger seat. His skin pallid and ashen, sticking out sharply against her mess of black curls that rested ontop of his head, always in a constant disarray and never able to be brushed staight no matter how many products were used. Always hanging in his eyes, it was. His big, blue eyes. He was a good boy, always did as he was told, but mischevious like a son should be and sharp as a tack. Her daughter, her first child, her problem child, stared out the window in mild and watered down interest. Her skin was pale as well, but really- like mother like daughter. Her hair was a firey auburn, messy and tucked around one shoulder, her square bangs just hiding her forehead. Her eyes were sharp and green and always hid some sort of secret or another. She was rebellious for having it so much easier than Ana did as a child, but Ana had to remember that she was just like her. They were one in the same.

"This is it," Ana told her children, glancing out her window to look up at the old house. Her aunt had died early in the spring and left her home to Ana. Not everything in it, of course, perhaps most of the furniture and "whatever be up stairs" but not her most valuables, which Ana could never remember seeing, all those years ago, when she spent the summer there. Then again, she couldn't remember much about that summer. Just another summer out of many.

The back door of the car opened just as Ana cut the engine and her children scrambled out.

"What are you gonna do with it?" a gruff voice sounded beside her. Ana turned slightly to smile at her young groom. His black hair, that had grown out of it's curls, hung slightly in his big blue eyes. He'd always been a man of few words, but love her he did. He was good to her. He cared about her. And she found that even after all this time, she still loved him beyond anything. She reached a hand over to pat him on the cheek.

"Donno," she answered. "I'd always fancied moving back here."

The man snorted before opening the passenger door and getting out, shutting it behind him. Ana wasn't far behind, watching as her son ran around the side to enter the gate, dancing through the court beside the house. Whatever they were going to do with _that_ she wasn't sure. Her daughter was trumping up the stairs around the side of the house.

"Toby!" Ana called. "Johanna! Come 'ere, loves." Reluctantly, Johanna stoped her accend and Toby wandered back from the court. Smiling, Ana handed her daughter a small key and nodded upwards. "You'll need this to get on up there."

Johanna's smile was fleeting, but it was there, before she turned to go explore the upper floor of the house. Ana tucked an arm around Toby's shoulder and let her husband grab her hand as the unlocked the front door that still lead into the kitchen and entered the house. Everything was layered in dust, but that could be easily remedied. Patting Toby on the back, she said, "Go explore and see what you can find."

He went rather willingly, wheeling around the corner into the parlor.

Johanna came trumping in through the front door after a failed attempt at getting in through the court.

"Mum, there's only one room upstairs," she said in dismay.

"Queer little house, isn't it?" Ana chuckled, leaning against the island counter, getting an odd sense of deja vu. Sat there during the summer she did, all those years ago. Only behind it, on a stool, watching a kind baker make pies to be filled with a delicious meat no one could quite identify. But that was such a long time ago- another life time, another Ana. "Used to be a shop," she went on. "And the shop keep would rent out the flat upstairs. But that was a _long_ time ago... your great Aunt Helen got a hold of it and made it into a home."

Johanna wrinkled her nose and sat at the kitchen table as Toby came wheeling back into the kitchen. "Can I go look upstairs?"

"I'll go with you," Ana said, leaning up on her toes to give her other half a kiss on the lips. His brows knit together and he then touched his lips to her forehead as well before turning her around by the shoulders and nudging her gently towards the court door. Wrapping an arm around Toby's shoulders, Ana unlocked the door and stepped out into the warm sun shine. Her boy went up the stairs two at a time as Ana was much more gentle on her old bones. At the top, Toby was already inside the room, investigating the large four poster bed and the random furniture that hadn't been touched when they came for Helen's things. Ana looked around fondly, a soft smile on her lips.

"Woah, Mum, lookit this!" young Toby exclaimed in excitement.

Ana ventured further into the room, looking curiously for her son. It wasn't hard- he was over by the window, where he had tipped up the broken floorboard with his foot. He looked guilty for a moment before he bent down to reach in, pulling out a dust covered book and a little box. "Get out of there!" She reprimanded, a sudden weight on her shoulders, pressing into her chest. "It's all dusty and you'll get sick if you breath too much of it in. Go on, move." She pushed him lightly with her hands away from the whole in the floorboards. Something was pushing at the back of her memory, but the older woman couldn't quite figure what. Her heart was pounding so loud in her ears that she heard little else as it tried to escape out her throat.

"What is it?" He whined, pointing to where he had laid the little worn book and the box. "And there's something else in there, too!"

"Just some things from my childhood," she assured him. "I hid them there so my Aunt wouldn't find them. An old journal and a box full of sewing things, that's all it t'is."

Toby looked almost instantly less interested. He turned and left the room in pouty disappointment, traveling down the stairs in quick steps. Ana knelt to the dusty ground and fingered the journal, pulling it carefully to her. The words _Do Not Read_ were plainly written in the front. She could remember, just barely, that first day all those years ago. Finding this journal, opening it, reading it. After that was almost a blurr. Like a dream she couldn't remember. Her fingers came up to brush the long faded scar over her throat, still bumpy under her fingertips. She blew the dust off the cover of the journal and pried the old pages open. They were even older now, creaking and yellow and almost breaking with the effort it took to turn them.

_And there's something else in there, too!_

Ana crawled to the edge of the open floor board and looked inside. Indeed, hidden under the layers of age and dust, was a aged, yellow folded sheet of paper. She pulled it out and made sure nothing warned her not to read it, and unfolded it on her lap. Faded, curvy writing was perfectly straight over the lineless page.

_She's fire and ice_

_a little crazy but it's nice_

_and when she's mad_

_you best leave her alone;_

_cause she'll rage just like a river_

_then she'll beg you to forgive her_

_Ana, Ana_

_the baker's prize_

_She's fire and ice_

_always crazy, never nice_

_but when she smiles_

_you best leave her alone_

_because she'll steal your heart_

_and leave you wanting more._

_Ana, Ana_

_the barber's casuality_

_swing your razors high_

_another innocent throat gone home_

_at last, where she belongs_

_Ana, Ana_...

It all didn't come flooding back, but the cold face of a prisoner, of a baber, in the dark, was most particularly memorable. His cold, black eyes freckled with warm honey brown. His skin pale and the squint in his eye. His raven hair streaked with that one curious line of white. His hands strong and demanding as they continuously left bruises whenever he touched another person. A heart, cold, broken, bloody, but still beating. Still beating. Her baber. The baker's barber. The warm, kind, forever smiling baker, even in death, that smile on her lips as she was blinded by what she so desperately wanted her barber to be- healed and in love. The baker and the barber. The woman crushed the paper in her hands, jumping with fright as the sound of her husbands voice entered the room. "Ana?"

She looked up with wide green eyes. He looked worried for her as he took three broad steps across the room and knelt at her side. "What is it, love?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing," she whispered. "Just... some things I found... from back when I was young."

He carefully took the paper from her hands and folded it without reading it, setting it ontop of the dusty old journal. "There, there, dear," he said. His arm came around her shoulders. Ana leaned into him, watching as he carefully placed the things back under the floor. She almost stopped him as he dropped the velvet-red box, dusted with age, but she didn't. When they were hidden from sight, he carefully helped her to her feet. Not bruising, not demanding. Careful, loving. Something the barber never could be. Something she would soon come to realize she never wanted the barber to be.

Ana threw her arms around her husbands shoulders and pulled him down for a kiss. His arms wound around her back and lifted her off her feet so that her toes just brushed the floor. They stumbled back under he sank onto the bed and pulled her to straddle his lap. Her arms tighted around his shoulders and his around her back as they kissed with ferocious intensity, neither daring to stop for a breath. Heaving, Ana finally pulled away to look him in the eyes- those beautiful, bright blue eyes. She always thought she would perfect dark with honey brown, but god how she loved his eyes. Her fingers moved to stroke his cheeks and she smiled, feeling her skin wrinkle around her eyes. Her laugh lines were so prominante and they seemed to fit her, as she seemed to always be laughing and smiling. She smoothed her fingers over his skin over and over and kissed him again, softer, more gentle. He smoothed his hands across her back and held her close.

Clutching him tightly, Ana said the words that came out easily since the first time their eyes met across the room all those years ago.

"I love you, Benjamin."

_I think sometimes we_

_Love people so much_

_That we have to be numb to it_

_Because if we felt how much_

_We really loved them,_

_It would kill us._


End file.
